Govt offices told to use centralized e-procurement system
President Benigno Aquino III has ordered all government agencies to use the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) in all their procurement activities. On July 28, Aquino signed Administrative Order (AO) No. 17 which directs 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 throughout the country. In a press statement issued on Monday, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. 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. He 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, Ochoa said. "This administration reiterates the policy that procurement of government supplies, materials, and equipment shall be done in the most and transparent and competitive manner" he said. He added that 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 favour particular suppliers. He said the AO applies to all national government agencies, including military and police units; government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs); government financial institutions (GFIs); state universities and colleges (SUCs); and local government units (LGUs). In the past, only the national government agencies, including SUCs, GOCCs and their subsidiaries, were mandated to use the PS system. However, upon the enactment of RA 9184, LGUs are now required to use PS or PhilGEPS. Ochoa said the AO also calls for a periodic evaluation of all procuring entities including the regular holding of procurement training programs and distribution of procurement operations manual for all offices and agencies of the government. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News