Seeking to enhance the prevention, detection, and prosecution of procurement misconduct, the Procurement Service - Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) attended a roundtable discussion on public procurement fraud and corruption moderated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Anti-Corruption Programme on April 28, 2023.
PS-DBM was represented by Director for the Procurement Group Atty. Genmaries Entredicho-Caong, Director for the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Group Dr. Maria Teresita Semana, and Chief of PhilGEPS’ Electronic Government Procurement Development and Operations Division James Angub.
The discussion served as a platform for participants to identify practical steps to improve the country’s public procurement system. According to UNODC, public procurement is the government’s number one corruption risk area in Southeast Asia, leaving an enormous negative impact on government spending.
The topics for discussion consisted of the relevant laws and policies in the Philippines, participating agencies’ mandates and jurisdiction, and the most common public procurement fraud and corruption schemes that include bid rigging and other conflict of interest situations. The respective civil, criminal, and administrative liabilities were also tackled.
For their part, PS-DBM representatives shared the efforts of the current management to improve its operations aimed at promoting market competition. The role of PhilGEPS as the centralized electronic portal for public procurement information was likewise highlighted.
An outcome document that outlines the ways forward based on the dialogue was produced, which will serve as the guidelines for a set of concrete activities to be implemented in 2023 and beyond.
The event brought together stakeholders from the government and civil society organizations.