The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has emphasized digitalization of the government’s procurement processes as a cornerstone of achieving bureaucratic efficiency.
Amenah Pangandaman, DBM secretary and concurrent Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) chairperson, pointed out that pilot testing of the revised procurement reports is a milestone towards improved planning and monitoring by procuring entities.
“The work we’ve done here today, in furtherance of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, is also an affirmation of our commitment to improve the procurement process and pursue E-governance as we move closer to the finalization of the revised procurement reports,” Pangandaman said during the ceremonial signing of the data sharing agreement between the GPPB and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last October 26.
“Our shared efforts signify our belief that the conduct of proper procurement should be guided by bureaucratic efficiency, transparency and service to the people,” she added.
This undertaking, similar to the data sharing agreement with the SEC, is the government’s step to transforming public procurement system, according to Pangandaman.
The revised procurement reports and data sharing agreement with the SEC will further magnify the government’s ability to fix bottlenecks and identify delays in procurement through offering a holistic view of the status of government procurement. These engagements will also equip the government with tools in making data-driven decisions and actions.
Pangandaman described the automated procurement reports as a source of “clear and real-time picture of an institution’s procurement performance by generating diagnostics that will help it adjust and set priority action plans for improvement.”
Rowena Candice Ruiz, GPPB-Technical Support Office executive director, in the same event underscored the integrity of procurement and competition in the market as two crucial areas to consider in government procurement.
“It’s very important for us, in understanding what we do in government, not only in open, transparent and accountable public procurement, but also making sure that everything that we do, we look into how this would affect the integrity of procurement, competition in the market, which is very, very critical at this point in time as we all try to really rebound from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ruiz said. – Angela Celis
