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PS-DBM head making procurement processes more transparent

By Azer Parrocha

August 31, 2022, 3:21 pm

MANILA – The new head of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) is already taking steps to ensure that the procurement processes in the government are more transparent, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Wednesday.

In a Palace press briefing, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman reiterated her appeal to give PS-DBM Executive Director Dennis Santiago a chance to reform the procurement arm amid mounting calls for its abolition.

While she defers to the wisdom of Congress on the PS-DBM’s fate, she said Santiago is not only a known procurement practitioner but also took part in crafting Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA).

Pangandaman cited Santiago’s order to suspend the procurement of non-common use supplies and equipment (non-CSEs) as among immediate efforts done to improve procurement processes within the PS-DBM.

To ensure transparency, she said the PS-DBM could also conduct “livestreaming” of its procurement processes.

“Para po maging (To be more) transparent, we can do livestreaming,” she said but did not elaborate.

Aside from the PS-DBM, she said the DBM will also clean the process and systems of its other attached agency, the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPP).

Meanwhile, she mentioned anew how the PS-DBM was able to incur as much as PHP18 billion in savings for the government from 2017 to 2019.

Earlier, Santiago said among reforms that could be done in the PS-DBM are price development based on realistic canvass; and the adoption of procurement and contracting modalities that are fit for purpose.

He said 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 could also be done as part of efforts to institute reforms in the procurement arm.

Formed in 1978, the PS-DM was formed to serve as the centralized procurement body for common use supplies and equipment (CSEs) in the entire government bureaucracy such as pens, papers, staplers, paper clips and folders.

The PS-DBM is currently at the center of congressional probes over the alleged overpriced medical supplies used during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and laptops for teachers. (PNA)

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