Press Release
January 19, 2009

CHIZ COMMITTEE TO REVISIT PROCUREMENT LAW

Senator Chiz Escudero today said he will revisit the existing procurement law via a bill he had filed in 2007 amending Republic Act (RA) 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Escudero filed Senate Bill (SB) No. 1963 to address the issues and problems that have resulted from ZTE and Cyber Education project scandals then.

With the recent public works contracts anomalies in the country exposed by World Bank, the senator said tackling the bill now is most timely.

Incidentally, the bill has since been referred to the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes and Laws, of which Escudero now heads.

S.B. No. 1963, one among the first bills Escudero filed during his first year in the Senate, seeks to address three points in the currently existing government procurement system embodied in the RA No. 9184.

Firstly, the bill seeks to lessen the discretion of procuring agencies specifically in the consideration of single calculated/rated and responsive bid submissions, and the use of observers.

Escudero said this provision will address the issue of collusion among local and international firms bidding on contracts, as found out by World Bank in the Philippine National Roads Improvement and Management Program (NRIMP 1).

"To avoid the practice of what the World Bank has already called a major cartel, discretion of procurement agencies should be lessened. In the bill, a procuring agency can only submit a bid by, in addition to the current requisites provided for in ran O. 9184, subjecting it to the approval of the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPBB)".

Escudero also proposed the use of observers in the bidding process. However, invitation of observers should be made strict by limiting the number of times an observer can be invited by a procuring agency.

"This should be done so because observers who become regulars of the BAC become friendly, if not, even cohorts in anomalous biddings and transactions.

Second feature of the bill proposes to strengthen and advance transparency by mandating the posting of decisions of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) relative to the criteria, ratings and calculations of bids as well as all other bids, responsive or otherwise, on the procuring agency's website or that of the GPBB.

"This feature seeks to bolster and reinforce accountability of public officials by making public how BAC members decide and why. Any anomaly in the bidding may be traced to the responsible BAC member" he said.

Third, the bill puts under coverage of RA No. 9184 the procurement of infrastructure projects, goods and consulting services funded by7 loan or credit under the Official Development Act, RA 8182, as amended.

This proposed amendment is in the light of the interpretation that the procurement of certain infrastructure projects, goods and services can be made exempt from the Operation of RA 9184 on the basis of Section 4 of said law which mandates the observation of treaties or international executive agreements affecting procurement.

"Currently Section 1 of RA 8555 empowers the President of the Republic to waive application of any law in deference to the contracting of loan or credit with a lending institution" the senator said.

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