AMONG issues taken up in President Marcos Jr.’s recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) was the status of government procurement. This may not be an awaited topic by many, but those who have followed with disappointment the P42-billion Pharmally corruption scandal about the scandalous procurement of face masks and other COVID-19 paraphernalia, or the overpriced laptops of the Department of Education worth P2.4 billion, are happy that this was even discussed.
Specifically, the President called on Congress to work on an updated “government procurement law” and “government auditing code.” He added these legislative amendments will make acquisition and auditing “in sync with the status quo” and “attuned to changing times.”
Without even mentioning the phenomenal disasters suffered or allowed to happen by the Duterte administration, which resulted in billions of pesos lost to corruption in the purchase of vaccines, face masks, medicines, laptops, police body cameras, infrastructure projects, etc., Marcos called for inter-agency cooperation and coordination among the three branches of government and the constitutional bodies to effect procurement reforms.
The Chief Executive said the government plans to have this plan rolled out for the next five years, adding he aims to “seek not only to become more effective, but more – to become truly transformative.”
‘… there are pending bills that contain detailed proposals on how the procurement gaps might be fixed, and so the process of drafting a new Procurement Code should start with these proposed measures.’
The Government Procurement Reform Act or Republic Act No. 1984 was approved in January 2003, while the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, or Presidential Decree no. 1445, was issued on June 11, 1978.
To fast-track the process, Sen. Francis Tolentino wants the inclusion of pending anti-graft measures to the proposed new procurement law being asked by the President. Tolentino said six bills he filed under the 19th Congress may be part of the provisions of the proposed new Government Procurement Code.
Tolentino, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, spearheaded a series of inquiries in connection with the anomalous purchase by the government of outdated and overpriced laptops for public school teachers.
Following the Senate investigation, Tolentino filed Senate Bill No. 1802 which seeks to abolish the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), the primary government agency involved in various anomalous contracts, both in laptops and COVID-19 paraphernalia.
Right after the Blue Ribbon panel’s probe on the government purchase of COVID-19 vaccines, Tolentino filed Senate Bill Nos. 2272 and 2273, which mandate the government’s full transparency and full disclosure in the future supply agreements and purchase contracts as well as requiring the participation of the Office of the Solicitor General in negotiating with foreign governments, effectively scrapping the non-disclosure provision in contracts.
He also filed Senate Bill No. 618 which seeks to establish a uniform warehousing and inventory system for all government procuring entities, and Senate Bill No. 619 which mandates all government suppliers, contractors, and consultants to submit requirements proving their financial capacity.
While we endorse President Marcos’ move to totally overhaul the Procurement Act or RA 1984, it is timely to remind our lawmakers that there are pending bills that contain detailed proposals on how the procurement gaps might be fixed, and so the process of drafting a new Procurement Code should start with these proposed measures.
