As has been clamored by numerous senators and congressmen last year, the permanent scuttling of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management saw another loud critic in congress this time, through a senior Rep. Johnny Pimentel of Surigao del Sur.
In a recent statement, Pimentel said DBM-PS is the highly controversial office behind the P2.4-billion overpriced purchase of second-rate laptops for public school teachers.
Last year, it also figured prominently in the investigation by the Senate Blue Ribbon, then chaired by Sen. Richard J. Gordon, into the “outsourcing” of pandemic supplies procurement by the Department of Health, resulting in over P10 billion in contracts being awarded by PS-DBM to an undercapitalized Pharmally Corp. with no track record in medical supplies transactions.
“Public office is public trust. Where an office becomes riddled and corroded with irreparable distrust, it must be the thrust of the people’s representatives to address it. This bill seeks to abolish the PS-DBM office,” said Pimentel.
The Procurement Service was created and attached to the Department of Budget and Management in 1978 via Letter of Instruction (LOI) No. 755, which established an integrated purchasing system for the national government and its instrumentalities.
When the pandemic was raging, DBM-PS was also embroiled in alleged irregularities in the buying of P42 billion worth of face masks, face shields, personal protective equipment, and other medical supplies for the DoH.
“There’s absolutely no need for the Procurement Service, which has become wholly redundant, and which has merely served as a breeding ground for corruption,” Pimentel, House good government and public accountability committee vice chair said.
Under Pimentel’s House Bill 5748, the Procurement Service will be abolished and affected employees will receive separation benefits under the Government Reorganization Law.
In the bill’s explanatory note, Pimentel said the Government Procurement Reform Law of 2003, or Republic Act No. 9184, had rendered the Procurement Service totally irrelevant and unnecessary.
“All government agencies, since 2003, have been empowered to establish their own Bids and Awards Committees (BACs) for their respective procurements through competitive bidding,” Pimentel said.
“The Procurement Service’s shutdown via an act of Congress would also give more meaning to the mandate of the Constitution for the State to take effective measures against corruption, and to maintain honesty and integrity in public service,” Pimentel said.
Once Pimentel’s bill is enacted, all prior year’s and current year’s advances for the purchase of supplies, materials, and equipment not available in the Procurement Service’s inventory would revert to the National Treasury.