| Philippines signs new rules to make gov't procurement more efficient
22 July 2009 - The Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) signed today the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA) at Shangri-La Makati Hotel to make public biddings simpler, faster, and more transparent.
Due to clamors to integrate procurement rules for domestic and foreign funded projects, the GPPB came up with a consolidated version of the IRR after extensive consultations with the private sector, civil society organizations, and bilateral and multilateral development partners.
The Revised IRR primarily:
1) expands its scope to include foreign-funded procurement activities. In the past, all foreign-funded projects used other procurement systems and methods as stipulated under the Executive Agreement between the Philippines and the foreign entity or government. Projects funded by foreign grants and those under International Competitive Bidding (ICB) will be governed by other procurement guidelines only if expressly exempt in the executive agreement. The Philippine's negotiating panel is bound to stipulate the use of the GPRA or at least make use of competitive bidding.
2) lessens transaction costs for the bidder and thus improve competition. For instance, it has limited the number of "eligibility documents" required to just six, from the previous 16 documents. Documentary "proof" that a bidder is a valid business entity is now limited to only two documents (DTI/SEC/CDA registration and Mayor's permit) from the previous six. By lessening the documentary requirements, potential suppliers of government will find it easier to join public bidding.
3) ensures participation of more members of civil society to sit as procurement observers. The revised IRR now allows organizations that are registered under the Cooperative Development Authority, instead of just SEC-registered organizations, to observe biddings.
The new rules will take effect 30 days after it is published.
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Bantay Budget
Tracking reallocated funds
12 January 2009 - Did the government spend just the P1.227 trillion approve as its budget last year under Republic Act No. 9498, or did it spend some P20 billion more?
In the past many years, debt payment on interest had been automatically appropriated-as a matter of law- in every annual budgeting session of the National Government.
In the Budget year 2008, however, the bicameral conference committee reclassified, for reasons of its own – debt interest payment from an automatically appropriated item into a Special Purpose Funds (SPF).
To recall, SPFs are budget allocations released only upon approval of the President, even when it had already been appropriated after Congressional scrutiny.
The President originally allocated P295.751 – Billion for debt servicing (under House Bill No. 2454) which the bicameral body reclassified as an SPF, though with a smaller amount of P269.847 – Billion or a difference of P25.904 – Billion.
But the reclassification vetoed by the President on the ground of “constitutionality”, warning that it would give the country a bad name, for some reason, debt servicing payments, were not assured.
Since the provision was vetoed, the amount should revert to the original P295.751-Billion (as proposed by the Executive).
Interestingly, about P22.602 billion of the national budget seemed to have been reallocated to boost the budgets of specific agencies.
Did the government spend some P22.6 billion more last year than Congress had originally intended?
Did this differential come from additional borrowings, unprogrammed extra revenues or savings?
Congress, being the watchdog agency of the budget, should sharpen its pencil on this one – otherwise this could have already set an ugly precedent.
For this year, it should interest the House of Representatives to know that in the proposed 2009 national budget, the Senate Finance Committee (chaired by Senator Edgardo J. Angara) had intended to realign from lump sum items some
P30 billion-50 billion for an economic stimulus package designed to spur economic activity amid the reging global downturn.
Besides, there is already a P100-billion pump priming fund, shouldered by the government (particularly funds like the government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System) and by the private sector.
Just what projects these packages would fund this year would be intersting to scrutinize.
Another question: since those investments will probably require the sovereign guarantee of the National Government to protect the GSIS/SSS planholders, these sovereign guarantees were not originally computed in contingent liabilities for this year.
RATIONALIZING INTERNAL REVENUE ALLOTMENT
In order not to unduly delay the execution of local projects of the LGU – and partly, some pundits say – to reward local executives for their political support for the Palace during the impeachment and other turbulent trials – IRA (Internal Revenue Allocation) took the form of automatic appropriations beginning 2007.
Curiously, a summary of IRA allocations seems to indicate not all regions received the full bounty of such allotments due them in the fiscal year.
Aside from Regions III, XII and Caraga, all of the other regions did not actually get the IRA that was due them. The Regions who did not get the full amount of IRA due them should question the budget departmenton this disparity between had been allocated and actual releases.
Furthermore, they should be alert to the fact that since certain amounts due them had not been released, these should be accumulated and released the following year, together with the regular, new IRA budget allocation.
For more information, visit www.budgetlegislation.com
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