Solon files House bill seeking to abolish DBM’s procurement service
MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez has filed a bill seeking the scrapping of the Department of Budget and Management's Procurement Service (PS-DBM) or the government's procurement arm, which has been the subject of investigations in Congress as of late.
House Bill 10222 also mandates national government agencies, including state-owned or controlled corporations, colleges and universities, and local governments to handle their own procurement of supplies after the PS-DBM, a body created in the Marcos era, is abolished.
The Senate Blue Ribbon panel's ongoing probe on government spending flagged by the Commission on Audit has so far focused on the PS-DBM's dealings with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., which it awarded the largest government contracts in the coronavirus pandemic despite the corporation having a paid-up capital of just P625,000.
Rodriguez in a statement sent to reporters pointed to the office's “many issues and controversies, the most recent of which was the transfer of P42 billion by the Department of Health for face shields, face masks, personal protective equipment, and other COVID-19 pandemic-related purchases.”
“The PS-DBM has also been hounded by allegations of improper procedure and overpriced acquisitions,” the Cagayan de Oro City representative also said.
Under the proposed House bill, any affected personnel of the procurement service will be paid separation and retirement benefits under existing laws. Any funds transferred to PS-DBM will also revert back to the national treasury.
There would be a transition period of one year, at which point the PS-DBM will be required to take an inventory of purchased supplies and deliver these to agencies. No further procurement by PS-DBM would be allowed from this point on.
'Irrelevant and redundant'
Rodriguez said that the 1987 Constitution, which directs the state to “maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and to take positive and effective measures against graft and corruption,” and Republic Act No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act, have made the PS-DBM irrelevant and redundant.
He added that the budget department’s procurement arm was created to take advantage of economies of scale by handling purchases of common-use supplies and equipment.
“However, the passage of [Republic Act No. 9184] undermines the mandate of the PS-DBM through the inclusion of relevant provisions that strengthen the procurement service of national government agencies,” Rodriguez said.
Sen. Imee Marcos earlier this month also filed a similar counterpart measure in the higher chamber in Senate Bill No. 2388.
The senator said this was to address the "systemic corruption" in the PS-DBM, whose mandate has since grown "archaic and irrelevant."
Rodriguez pointed to the creation of the Government Procurement Policy Board and the bids and awards committee in each agency mandated in the Government Procurement Reform Act.
According to Rodriguez, one of the tasks of the board is to strengthen the BACs by ensuring “that procuring entities regularly conduct procurement training programs and prepare a procurement operation manual for all offices and agencies of the government."
The proposed law would take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.
— with reports from Xave Gregorio and Bella Perez-Rubio
- Latest
- Trending
