Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said Monday the full digitalization of the agency’s procurement service will not only result in an efficient and more transparent procurement system but also generate savings for the government.
Pangandaman, in a statement, expressed full support to the full digitalization of the public procurement process being undertaken by the Procurement Service-DBM.
“In line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to digitally transform government services and to support his 8-point Socioeconomic Agenda, the PS-DBM is dedicated to instituting an efficient procurement system incorporating global best practices, including the complete digitization of all government procedures,” she said.
PS-DBM executive director Dennis Santiago recently met with United Nations Development Programme representatives to discuss full procurement digitalization and analytics, two strategic priorities in the development of a comprehensive acquisition process to strengthen the PS-DBM’s integrity as the government’s central purchaser.
The meeting was held in preparation for UNDP’s Country Programme for 2024-2028.
The procurement process—widely seen as the most daunting bottleneck in budget utilization due to alleged rampant corruption, interpretational ambiguities and a lackluster capability to carry out procurement tasks within government agencies—causes service delivery delays.
Santiago said the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System was undergoing modernization. He underscored prominent improvements such as an integrated e-bidding system, an electronic payment facility and other associated enhancements.
Santiago said the PS-DBM’s 12-point agenda is highlighted by its focus on the procurement solely of Common-use Supplies and Equipment— including the study, review, rationalization, recasting specifications and requirements of pricing, and developing a reasonable and fair approved budget for the contract.
Part of its agenda is implementing an organizational restructuring of PS-DBM, including human resource development and capacity building, and upscaling the logistics and supply chain management for transparency and accountability in the delivery of the procured items.