PH Government Saves ₱681 Million With Better Procurement System

The Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) said the government recorded its highest savings of ₱681.2 million last year due to implementing a more competitive and transparent procurement system for agencies.

PS-DBM executive director Dennis Santiago said the government saved through bulk procurement, market price monitoring, and validation.

Last year, PS-DBM faced controversies in its procurement such as overpriced medical supplies by the Department of Health which prompted lawmakers to call for its abolition.

The Commission on Audit flagged repeated transactions by the PS-DBM as “a breeding ground for graft, corruption, inefficiency, and negligence of the duties of other government agencies.”

It also faced another controversy on procuring 39,583 “pricey” laptops worth ₱2.4 billion, supposedly for public school teachers.

Santiago said the agency vows to continue procurement reforms and improve its service to reduce corruption in the government.

“We look forward to achieving ‘procurement transformation’, not only in processes, procedures, and products, but the overall transformation of PS-DBM relative to its structure, system, and human resources,” Santiago said.

The creation of the PS-DBM is to adopt an efficient economic policy for purchasing government materials. It operates a centralized procurement system for office supplies and equipment for several agencies and offices of the government.

Source: Philstar