Senator Joel Villanueva on Sunday said government agencies should temporarily stop using the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) as their buying arm for big-ticket projects until the agency explains the controversies.
He said there should be a “moratorium on the practice of agencies transferring large amounts of funds to the PS-DBM so the latter can conduct the bidding for goods and projects on their behalf.”
He said the goods will be bought promptly if agencies will do the bidding themselves because PS-DBM is another layer of red tape in the procurement process.
“There is practically no need for agencies to pay a commission to the middleman, which is exactly what PS-DBM’s role is. They can do the bidding of contracts themselves," Villanueva said.
Villanueva said one reason agencies dump their funds on PS-DBM is to extend the validity of their fund allotments.
“When expiring allotments are transferred to PS-DBM these are given a new lease of life," he said.
The transferred funds would now be deemed as obligations in the books of agencies and no longer unspent funds that must be reverted to the national treasury.
“I wonder why the DBM, which is a proponent of timely spending of funds, not only entertains but seems to encourage this kind of simulated spending," he said.
Villanueva said he is not calling for a “full stop to all PS-DBM’s operations, but only for new contracts. It can continue its business of being the bulk buyer of government’s common-use supplies, he said.
He said billions of pesos of unspent advances by agencies to PS-DBM “should either be returned to sender or the procurement, if it is on the last mile, be expedited.”
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Sunday hit Senator Christopher Go for urging Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to make the “supreme sacrifice” to resign, saying such a move could be just a ploy to divert public attention and accountability away from the questionable transactions of the PS-DBM.
“Why only now? The call for Secretary Duque to resign has been a long time ago due to his failure to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and the corruption issues within the agency. Instead of addressing the matters, President Rodrigo Duterte is still covering up and defending him,” he said.
“We cannot blame the people who think that the call for Duque’s resignation is just to divert attention away from the corruption of the Duterte administration,” he added.
State auditors have flagged the PS-DBM over its lack of a clear policy on handling inventories that led to P95.46 million worth of "slow-moving" COVID-19 supplies.
In a 2020 audit report, the Commission on Audit flagged the DBM-PS forplacing orders for 113.95 million pieces of surgical masks and 1.32 million pieces of face shields in April and May 2020, a period when prices were “so high” because of high demand.
The masks were purchased from various suppliers for P13.50 to P27.72 per piece, while the face shields were bought for P120 each.
"We urge the Senate and House (of Representatives) to pursue the investigations regarding the anomalies in the DOH and other agencies until those responsible are held to account," Zarate said.