Procurement Service – Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) Executive Director (ED) Atty. Dennis S. Santiago engaged with public budget and fiscal officers to discuss the latest updates in procurement rules and regulations during the 2023 Philippine Association for Government Budget Administration (PAGBA), Inc. 3rd Quarterly Seminar held from November 15 to 18, 2023 in Cebu City.
ED Santiago’s presentation, dated November 17, highlighted the role of PS-DBM as the centralized procurement body of the government for common-use supplies and equipment (CSE). With emphasis on the documentary requirements that agencies need to submit to PS-DBM, he also zeroed in on the end-to-end procurement process — commencing from the submission of the Annual Procurement Plan (APP) to the posting of contracts. The roles of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) members were likewise discussed.
The seminar also served as an avenue for ED Santiago to introduce the initiatives of PS-DBM in reforming the existing procurement rules and guidelines through amendments of the decades-old Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA).
Bannering the theme "Responding to the Continuing Challenge of Innovations & Technology to Public Financial Management," the event also featured lectures on open government partnership, records management disposal, and tax updates, among others. Discussions on flexible work arrangements, mental health in the workplace, and other human resource actions were also held.
For DBM’s part, Undersecretary and Chief Information Officer Maria Francesca M. Del Rosario underscored the crucial role of technological innovations to enable the transformative potential of digitalization geared towards improving public financial management, resulting in a more effective and efficient delivery of public services.
Through capacity-building engagements such as the PAGBA seminar, PS-DBM recognizes the need to empower government financial managers to make way for a more efficient and transparent public procurement process.