Palace wants LGUs to use e-procurement system, too

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has signed an administrative order that will require all government agencies – from the national level down to the local government units (LGUs) – to avail of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System in all their procurement activities.

Administrative Order 17 mandates government offices to source all their common-use supplies directly from the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), or from its regional depots all over the country.

Prior to the enactment of the Republic Act 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2003, only the national government offices, including state universities and colleges, government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and their subsidiaries have been using the e-procurement system.

But now, with Aquino’s issuance of the new administrative order, even LGUs are not only encouraged but are required to use the Procurement Service of DBM or PhilGEPS.

Procurement activities include the publication of all bid opportunities, notices, awards and contracts, in accordance with the country’s procurement laws, as prescribed in RA 9184.

“This administration reiterates the policy that procurement of government supplies, materials, and equipment shall be done in the most transparent and competitive manner,” Ochoa said in a statement.

Ensuring transparency and competition are keys to protecting the procurement system from graft, as these two elements discourage attempts to rig the bidding and awarding process to favor particular suppliers, he said.

Common-use supplies refer to office supplies like bond paper, ballpens, pencils, and ink, which eat up about P19.5 billion of the government’s annual spending package.

“With a centralized supply purchasing system, the budget department has estimated that the government stands to save as much as P6 billion a year,” Ochoa said.

PhilGEPS, which can be accessed online at www.philgeps.net, provides relevant information on all procurement activities, and will help accelerate and further facilitate the entire procurement process in all government agencies.

At present, the system already has 53,382 registered suppliers.

The AO applies to all national government agencies, including military and police units; GOCCs; government financial institutions (GFIs); SUCs and LGUs, Ochoa said.

The presidential issuance also calls for a periodic evaluation of all procuring entities, and this includes the regular holding of procurement training programs and distribution of procurement operations manual for all offices and agencies of the government.