SUMMARY OF R.A. NO.

9184

Republic Act No. 9184 (R.A. No. 9184) is “AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE

MODERNIZATION, STANDARIZATION AND REGULATION OF THE PROCUREMENT

ACTIVITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”. It is also known as

the "Government Procurement Reform Act."

R.A. No. 9184 was approved on January 10, 2003 and took effect fifteen (15) days after

its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. It applies

to the Procurement of Infrastructure Projects, Goods and Consulting Services, regardless of

source of funds, whether local or foreign, by all branches and instrumentalities of government,

its departments, offices and agencies, including government-owned and/or-controlled

corporations and local government units, subject to the provisions of Commonwealth Act No.

138.

This act is composed of 25 articles and 78 sections. Article I consists of general

provisions of the law including its Short Title, Declaration of Policy, Governing Principles on

Government Procurement, Scope and Application, Definition of Terms, and Standardization of

Procurement Process and Forms. Article II of the same law provides guidelines for the

Procurement Planning, while Article III pertains to the Procurement by Electronic Means

wherein a single portal that is considered as the primary source of information on all government

procurement called the Government Electronic Procurement System (G-EPS) is provided. The

G-EPS includes feature that provides for an audit trail for on-line transactions and allow the

Commission on Audit to verify the security and integrity of the systems at any time. Article IV

of the law concerns the Competitive Bidding. Article V of the law is about the Bids and Awards

Committee (BAC) and consists of provisions on the BAC and its Composition, Functions of the
BAC, Observers, BAC Secretariat, BAC Secretariat, and Professionalization of BAC, BAC

Secretariat and Technical Working Group Members.

Procurement is an activity undertaken by any government agency involving acquisition

of goods, consulting services, contracting for infrastructure projects and lease of goods and real

estate.

Government procurement is, at present, governed by Republic Act No. 9184, “An Act

Providing for the Modernization, Standardization and Regulation of the Procurement Activities

of the Government and for Other Purposes”, enacted on December 18, 2002 and its Implementing

Rules and Regulations. The passage of this law highlighted the government’s efforts in pursuing

procurement reforms and upholding the following principles: Transparency in the procurement

process and in the implementation of procurement contracts; Competitiveness by extending

equal opportunity to all eligible and qualified private contracting parties to participate in public

bidding; streamlined procurement process applied uniformly to all government procurement. The

procurement process shall be simple and adaptable to modern technology in order to ensure

effective and efficient method; System of accountability where public officials directly or

indirectly involved in the procurement process and implementation of procurement contracts,

and private parties dealing with the government are, when warranted by circumstances,

investigated and held liable for their actions; and Public monitoring of the procurement process

and implementation of awarded contracts in ensuring that contracts are awarded pursuant to the

provisions of RA 9184 and its implementing rules and regulations and that performance under

these contracts are strictly in accordance with approved terms, conditions and specifications.
 Even before the passage of RA 9184, the government was already addressing the issue

on transparency in government procurement and inefficiency due to manual and paper-driven

procurement processes. Thus, in November 2000, the internet-based Electronic Procurement

System (EPS) was established. This is at present required to be used by all government agencies.

Government procurement is highly decentralized. Each agency advertises its

procurement activities, pre-qualifies all interested entities and awards contract following the

procedures prescribed under appropriate implementing rules and regulations.

The central procurement system of the government for common-use supplies, materials

and equipment is, however, being handled by the Procurement Service (PS), one of the offices

under the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

 MANUEL S. ENVERGA UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION

LUCENA CITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Republic Act No. 8495

An Act Providing for the Modernization, Standardization and Regulation of the

Procurement Activities of the Government and for other Purposes

Article Summary

Edora, Angelo D.

BSME – V

Dr. Guillermo M. Rago Jr.

Dean

January 27, 2019