Senate leaders see fresh push for
procurement reform next Congress
By Chamaine A. Iadalal Reportef
BILLS proposing to amend Republic Act No.
9184, or the "Government Procurement Re-
form Act," will likely be filed anew in the next
Congress despite tepid legislative interest
since 2016, Senate leaders said in, recent re-
marks.
Amending the GPaA was among the prior-
itybills identifiedbythe Legislative-Executive
Development Advisory Council at the begin-
ning of the I7'h congress in mid-2016.
The bills in the Senate and the House of
Representatives, however, have remained at
the committee level since then even as the
current Congress nears its end.
Asked whether he will support the measure
in the 18th Congress, Senate President Vicente
C. Sotto III replied in a mobile phone message
on Sunday: "yes, absolutely."
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G
Recto and reelectionist Senator Aquilino L.
Pimentel III, who separately authored bills
amending the procurement la\ ', said they
plan to refile their respective bills in the next
Congress.
"My procurement bill seeks to increase
governrnent efficiqncy and effectiveness," Mr.
Pimentel said in a text message on Saturday.
"The proposed amendments to the GPRA
will enable the government to procure high-
quaiity goods, services and infrastructure con-
tracts which it needs to deliverpublic services
by awarding the bidder with the most advanta-
geous and responsive bid. The government
will not be required to award the contract to
the lowest bidder," he explained, adding that
he will push the reform "ifgiven the chanc€ to
continue sewing in the Senate."
Mr Pimentel said thebill was not tackled in
the l7'h Congress because it wasn't backed by
the Department of Budget and Management
@BlO under the leaders\ip offormer budget
secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, who assumed
the helm ofthe centralbanklast month. "DBM
Secfretary] Dibkno was against touching the
procurement law," he said via text on Sunday
DBM Oflicer-in-Charge Janet B. Abuel ex-
plained that Mr. Diokno had preferred any
changes to be introduced through the imple-
menting rules and regulations (IRR), in order
to preserve provisions oftte law.
"The procurement law, it's really a good
law. Maybe you can say it4leeds somc updat-
ing but the intention is anlr updates should as
much as possible be incorporated in the IRR"
Ms, Abuel said in an interviev/ onthe sidelines
ofahearing on theproposed P4.l-trillion 2020
national budget which the House of Represen-
tatives Appropriations committee conducted
on Monday.
"Siguro ang (Perhaps the only) misgivings
mo lang, or reservations in having the law
amended, is that the otier better partl oI the
law might be amended as well."
The lzh Congress, no$'on a Feb. 9'May 19.
break for the May13 midterm elections for all
seats in the House and halfofthe Senate, will
have just May 2o-June 7 to act on remaining
legislative measures. Bills left unapproved by
both chambers at the end of that period will
have to be refiled in the l8d Congress, which
opens onJuly22.
Procurenent, S1/2
I*rsir**rWorld
WEDI{ESDAY, APRlL 24, 2019
I
Procuremenl
from S1/ I
Under Senate Bill No. 1713, Mr.
Pimentel proposed to introduce
the principle of value for money
(Vfl.I) to supplant the current
"lowest bidder policy" that has
at times led to poor quality of
projects.
The VfN principle will allow
the governmentto awad projects
to contractors who are able to
meet relevant financial and non-
financial requirement in terms
of quality of the goods and ser-
vices, fitness for purpose of the
proposal, performance history,
flexibility of proposal, and timeli-
ness, among others.
The bill also provides that
for projects that will be built in
phases, the government office
concerned should indicate in the
annual procurement plan the
totalproject cost, project descrip-
tion, program of works and ap-
proved budget for each phase.
Mr. Pimentel said in his,ex-
planatory notd that these detarf.,:
I
".
.\
',
+rAcir
ald,intended to prevent overpric-
ing and a:iddrding of contracts to
favored contractors.
Under SB 1423, meanwhile,
Mr. Recto proposed to give prior-
ity to local infrastructure indus-
try players by adding eligibility
requirements that will favor firms
located in provinces.
Among others, a bidder witl its
main ofrce based in the province
where the project is located may
participate in projects mayvie for
contracts with approved budget
for contract (A3C) of up to Ploo
million, bidders within the proj-
ect's region may vie for contracts
with ABC of over Ploo million
but nol more than P2OO million,
while those located. anywhere'in
the Philippines may participate
only in proj ects with ABC of mqre
than P2oo million.
Asked if he is likely to refil6
the bill in the next Congress, Mr.
Recto.replied in a mofile phone
message, "Yes."
PAq€ it