The flocking number of Engineers in the world today faces a myriad of issues that need to be addressed at the grass root level.
According to Joe Biden, in a 2014 conference, corruption is a cancer, a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy, diminishes the instinct for innovation and creativity.
In the General Provisions of the 2016 revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9184 Section 2, it has been stated that the provisions of this IRR are in line with the commitment of the GoP to promote good governance and its effort to adhere to the principles of transparency, accountability, equity, efficiency, and economy in its procurement process.
INTRO TO BODY:
Public procurement in the Philippines disembarks a prominent example of how much the specifics of implementation can matter. If transparency is to allow communal oversight, disclosure must meet particular conditions of accessibility and usability. According to most cases, simply posting information online is not enough. For real transparency, data must be open to the public without gates, it must be published in open and machine-readable formats, and it must be available in bulk. It is known that none of the main issues which humanity is facing will be resolved without access to information (Deloire, 2017).
Published in 2003, the Republic Act 9184 is known as the Government Procurement Reform Act. Upon ample revision, the researcher would be pleased to present a brief view of the primary parts of the Republic Act 9184 revised in the year 2006.
Section 1. Short Title and Purpose
This 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations, hereinafter called the IRR, is promulgated pursuant to Section 75 of Republic Act No. (R.A.) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act,” for the purpose of prescribing the necessary rules and regulations for the modernization, standardization, and regulation of the procurement activities of the Government of the Philippines (GoP).
Section 2. Declaration of Policy
The provisions of this IRR are in line with the commitment of the GoP to promote good governance and its effort to adhere to the principles of transparency, accountability, equity, efficiency, and economy in its procurement process. It is the policy of the GoP that procurement of Goods, Infrastructure Projects and Consulting Services shall be competitive and transparent, and therefore shall undergo competitive bidding, except as provided in Rule XVI of this IRR.
Section 3. Governing Principles on Government Procurement
The procurement of the GoP shall be governed by these principles:
a) Transparency in the procurement process and in the implementation of procurement contracts through wide dissemination of bid opportunities and participation of pertinent non-government organizations.
b) Competitiveness by extending equal opportunity to enable private contracting parties who are eligible and qualified to participate in competitive bidding.
c) Streamlined procurement process that will uniformly apply to all government procurement. The procurement process shall be simple and made adaptable to advances in modern technology in order to ensure an effective and efficient method.
d) System of accountability where both the public officials directly or indirectly involved in the procurement process as well as in the implementation of procurement contracts and the private parties that deal with GoP are, when warranted by circumstances, investigated and held liable for their actions relative thereto.
e) Public monitoring of the procurement process and the implementation of awarded contracts with the end in view of guaranteeing that these contracts are awarded pursuant to the provisions of the Act and this IRR, and that all these contracts are performed strictly according to specifications.
The Procurement Law applies to the vast majority of all the processes involved in procurement of goods supported by the Philippine Government. This Law provides a set of standards so as to ensure that every bit of the Philippine peso is spent for the benefit of the nation.
If you have been able to read the whole Republic Act 9184 or just had an encounter with certain parts of it, do you think all of the specifics included can withstand corruption of power in the hands of inscrutable governance?
Some would say yes.
DUE TO THE… POSITIVE EFFECTS/ SEEMINGLY SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS/SUCCESSFUL IN TERMS OF BUDGET AS PROMISED BY OFFICIALS DURING ELECTION
Some would say no..
The Government Procurement Reform Act has been in the light of
DUE TO THE… NEGATIVE EFFECTS/ SEEMINGLY UNSUCCESSFUL PROJECTS/UNSUCCESSFUL IN TERMS OF BUDGET AS PROMISED BY OFFICIALS DURING ELECTION
But in fact, rather than guessing, one must be able to be in front of such bidding procedures to be able to find out the malpractices. According to the study entitled “The Promises and Pains in Procurement Reforms in the Philippines” (Navarro and Tanghal, 2017), the numerous key informant interviews greatly revealed the difficulties encountered and good practices implemented under the current legislative framework. To address procurement issues, the study recommends: (1) pursuing deliberate investments on and having a political will for systems change and organizational culture change; (2) greater investment on planning and other preparatory activities before the actual procurement; (3) innovation orientation in public procurement; and (4) value-for-money procurement.
1. Pursue deliberate investments on and have a political will for systems change and organizational culture change:
The DPWH under the helm of former Secretary Singson is an example of this. when the government was severely criticized by many stakeholders for the delays in the implementation of infrastructure projects in 2011, the secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) vowed to institute an agency transformation program which will reduce corruption, improve efficiency, optimize resources and realize an overall organizational culture change (DPWH 2013). The DPWH then implemented major reforms given this mantra: to implement the right projects at the right cost and with the right quality, and for these to be delivered right on time and carried out by the right people. For example, in the procurement process, the agency removed the requirement for contractors to submit a Letter of Intent so as to prevent collusion. It also simplified the bidding process by requiring only five documents, instead of the previous 20 documents. Submitting 20 documents in the past provided a lot of room for discretion and opportunities for disqualification in order to favor a bidder. The DPWH also implemented the “clustering of projects”, that is, related projects are joined and packaged into bigger contract packages in order to attract competent contractors. In the area of project management, the agency also established standard cost estimation manuals for roads, bridges and buildings. It also gathered, disseminated and updated price data on construction materials nationwide. It also adopted standards on construction duration by type of project. Before the reforms were pursued, there was wide variability in unit prices and there was no standard construction duration. The DPWH also tapped third parties as partners. It accredited 52 civil society organization partners as partners in the different stages of the project life cycle. It is also outsourced some project inspection and quality assurance services. The agency also set up a web-based communications system for receiving, replying to, and taking action on any complaint, query, or suggestion. It also conducted selective and purposive auditing by concentrating on the most vulnerable areas and giving sanctions to officials with major lapses. As a matter of policy, it also encouraged whistleblowing and internal reporting of bad behavior. It is also currently running an Organizational Culture Change Project, which includes interpersonal and personal skills development related to core public service values such as integrity, excellence, professionalism and teamwork.
2. Greater investment on planning and other preparatory activities before the actual procurement
There should be deliberate budgeting for updating of project development studies and procurement plans. The investment plans and programs must be communicated very early. Ensure also that expert procurement units are acquired in each agency. Tested good practices from implementing agencies must also be upscaled. There should also be a sustained and dynamic capacity building for implementing agencies, LGUs, provincial contractors, and local monitor CSOs.
3. Innovation orientation in public procurement
This is part of strategic procurement or catalytic procurement. The strategies are to come from the demand side, which often has innovation orientation. Examples are:
- when large-scale use of an innovation is needed, achieving critical mass of purchase through bundling
- when government needs to meet a normative policy goal such as sustainability or energy
- efficiency, ask for leading edge products and services
- meeting normative policy goal: this is illustrated by the DOST’s Project NOAH and mobile app: Arko (weather-monitoring app)
4. Value-for-money procurement
A thorough consideration of value for money begins by officials clearly understanding and expressing the goals and purpose of the procurement. When a business requirement arises, officials should consider whether a procurement will deliver the best value for money. In this approach, we need to consider the relevant financial and non-financial costs and benefits of each submission including, but not limited to:
a) the quality of the goods and services;
b) fitness for purpose of the proposal;
c) the potential supplier’s relevant experience and performance history;
d) whole-of-life costs.
e) flexibility of the proposal (including innovation and adaptability over the lifecycle of the procurement); and
f) environmental sustainability of the proposed goods and services (such as energy efficiency and environmental impact).
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