The Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) said it will implement reforms to set things right, and to clean the systems and processes in the agency.
In a statement, the agency also said the 3 billion worth of high-yield investment flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) remains “intact.”
“Please note that we are already reviewing the audit observation on the high yield savings account and shall revert to COA to address the AOM (audit observation memorandum). The amount of P3 billion is intact, and I am for the return of the money to the national treasury soon as we have properly clarified the nature of the funds with COA,” PS-DBM executive director Dennis Santiago said yesterday.
“We respectfully make this appeal for our countrymen– Please trust the new PS-DBM administration. Allow us to introduce and institute reforms in PS-DBM. We want to bring back to PS-DBM its old glory,” he added.
Santiago asked that the new administration be allowed to reform and transform the agency and provide efficiency and economy in the acquisition of common-use supplies and equipment (CSE), which the PS-DBM intends to focus on as part of its mandate.
“To allow us to focus on the fulfillment of our primary mandate, which is to procure CSEs, I issued a directive on August 16 suspending the procurement of non-common use supplies and equipment. During the suspension, the PS-DBM shall not accept new requests for Non-CSE procurement until further notice,” Santiago said.
Santiago said the procurement transformation in PS-DBM doesn’t need to be too technical and convoluted.
“We will go back to the basics and execute them well to strengthen our foundation, and implement the doable,” Santiago said.
He said reforms in the acquisition paradigm can be achieved by embracing the following: targeted purchase of CSE; price development based on realistic canvass; adoption of procurement and contracting modalities that are fit for purpose; supply chain management; implementation of electronic procurement platforms, such as, eBidding, eReverse Auction and eShopping; human resource development and capacity building; implementation of green public procurement; and supplier partnership and management to name a few.
“We will not institute reforms to impress. We will implement the reforms to set things right and to clean the systems and processes in the agency,” he said.
