The House of Representatives, on December 12, 2023, approved on final reading the proposed New Government Procurement Reform Act, to amend Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
The House Bill proposes to further “improve the government procurement system by providing additional measures that will shorten the present bureaucratic intricacies of the system.”
The Procurement Service – Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), mandated to operate a centralized procurement system for the whole of government, worked closely with the DBM and the Government Procurement Policy Board - Technical Support Office (GPPB-TSO) to introduce such amendments, ultimately aimed at streamlining the processes and procedures to allow for cost-effective, transparent, competitive, sustainable, and inclusive procurement activities of the government.
The measure also seeks to adopt an electronic procurement system which would promote “greater transparency, accountability, operational efficiency, and value for money.” This will be aided by the modernization of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) to serve as the Philippines’ single electronic procurement portal where all procurement activities – from planning to implementation – can be monitored.
These changes, along with many other proposed improvements, will enhance and update the 20-year-old procurement law to ensure that agencies can keep up with the continuous development of digital technologies in the modern age.
Following this development which is deemed as among the priorities of the present administration, the Bill will be submitted to the Senate.