"Prices in the EPS marketplace are at least 40 percent lower than what is available commercially," said Estanislao Granados, director for the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) Procurement Service "Right now the government is spending some P6 billion for common-use supplies. Take out 40 percent of that and that’s what the government will save because of the EPS."
Common-use supplies cover 350 items of goods and services that are needed in the transaction of public businesses. These include a wide variety of office supplies such as papers, ballpens, notebooks and office furniture; and services like trucking, hauling, janitorial, security and related services.
"The idea is for all government units with Internet access to post their supply requirement on the EPS," Granados said. The system will automatically notify all bid opportunities to registered suppliers online.
"This will put the suppliers on equal footing. So even if you are a supplier from a far-flung area, you can join the bidding if you are registered and if your goods match those that are needed by the government unit, " he said.
At least 50 percent of the system is already in place, including the three main features, namely: the electronic billboard where agencies can post their notices; the supplier registry which features the database of suppliers; and the electronic catalog which provides for an itemized display of goods and services available.
With the help of these existing features, registered agencies are now able to buy goods and services online. As of March 15, there are 1,367 registered suppliers, 1,403 registered government units, and 3,225 notices posted.
The two remaining features to be finalized this year are the virtual store, where the agencies can pick the goods and buy it online, and a mechanism that will allow an electronic bid submission.
The government hopes to have all government units linked up to the EPS by January 2003. This means that public agencies with Internet access can start shopping online for common-use supplies and have access to wider supplier base by next year.
More than five information technology giants have expressed interest to bid for the construction, design, hosting and implementation of the EPS. "By April, the government will decide whether we will build our own infrastructure or we will outsource. But the sentiment is towards the latter."
The creation of the EPS is mandated by Executive Orders (EO) 322 and 40.