Government saves P681 million with better procurement process

MANILA, Philippines — The government managed to save a record P681 million last year following the implementation of a more competitive and transparent procurement system for agencies.

The Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) said the government generated P681.2 million in savings last year as a result of a competitive, transparent, and efficient procurement system.

This is the highest savings recorded by the PS-DBM.

The savings are computed from the difference between the total market selling price and PS-DBM’s selling price for each common-use supplies and equipment (CSE) item.

The total market selling price is based on the lowest price gathered in the conduct of price analysis and verification by PS-DBM prior to the conduct of procurement for each CSE item.

PS-DBM executive director Dennis Santiago said the government was able to save through bulk procurement and market price monitoring and validation.

PS-DBM was in hot water last year over controversies in its procurement, which prompted lawmakers to call for its abolition.

Repeated transactions of PS-DBM were flagged by the Commission on Audit as it has become “a breeding ground for graft, corruption, inefficiency, and negligence of the duties of other government agencies.”

PS-DBM was involved in the overpriced medical supplies procured by the Department of Health.

It also faced another controversy for the procurement of 39,583 “pricey” laptops worth P2.4 billion, supposedly for public school teachers.

Santiago vowed to continue implementing procurement reforms within the agency and elevate its level of service.

“We look forward to achieving ‘procurement transformation,’ not only in processes, procedures and products, but the over-all transformation of PS-DBM relative to its structure, system and human resources,” Santiago said.

Earlier, the DBM said it is drawing up a procurement roadmap that would help improve bureaucratic efficiency and reduce corruption in the government.

PS-DBM operates a centralized procurement system for common use office supplies and equipment for several agencies and offices of the government.

Its creation is consistent with the adoption of a policy of economic and efficient manner in purchasing government materials.