Escudero to amend procurement law

Press Release
By Office of Senator Chiz Escudero
December 29, 2007

MANILA, Philippines  –  Senator Chiz Escudero has filed a bill amending Republic Act 9184 also known as the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Senate Bill No. 1963 seeks to address three points in the currently existing government procurement system embodied in the RA 9184 in view of the recent anomalous contracts favored and concluded by the government such as the ZTE and the CyberEd projects.

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

Escudero said this 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 No. 9184 on the basis of Section 4 of said law which mandates the observation of treaties or international or executive agreements affecting procurement in relation to Section 1 of RA 8555 which on the other hand empowers the President of the Republic to waive application of any law in deference to the contracting of a loan or credit with a lending institution.

Secondly, SB 1963 proposes to strengthen and advance transparency by mandating the posting of decisions of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) relative to 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 Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB).

“We want this included in the provisions of the procurement law to bolster and reinforce accountability of public officials by making public how BAC members decide and why. If there be any anomaly in the bidding, the responsible BAC member may be identified” Escudero said.

Thirdly, 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.

On the consideration of single calculated/rated and responsive bid submission, a procuring agency can only do so by, in addition to the current requisites provided for in RA 9184, subjecting it to the approval of the GPPB.  “In this manner the procuring agency will have the inability to rig biddings through a consensus amongst competing contractors or bidders in that agency” Escudero said.

The senator added that on the matter of using observers in the bidding process, the invitation of observers is made strict by limiting the number of times an observer can be invited by a procuring agency. This is being proposed in consideration of the fact that the observers who become regulars of the BAC become friendly, if not, even cohorts in anomalous biddings and transactions.

Escudero said the passage of this bill would address the problems and issues that have resulted from the ZTE and Cyber Ed projects.