During the 2023 State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 20 July 2023, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. urged Congress to enact a new procurement law. In response, the Government Procurement Policy Board – Technical Support Office (GPPB-TSO), under the leadership of Executive Director Atty. Rowena Candice M. Ruiz, drafted the GPPB proposed amendments and presented to Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman on 07 August 2023. These proposed amendments were presented to the Cabinet along with the proposals of the Procurement Service. A bill incorporating previous recommendations and comments from the GPPB regarding RA 9184 was prepared and presented at the 3rd Legislative Executive Development Authority Council (LEDAC) Meeting in September 2023, and in the Senate in October 2023.
In October 2023, House Bill (HB) No. 9648 was created by consolidating substitute and Administrative Bills. It was passed in the House of Representatives on December 12, 2023. Meanwhile, in March 2024, Senate Bill (SB) No. 2593, known as the New Government Procurement Act, received unanimous approval on May 21, 2024, following Senate hearings. The legislative process concluded on May 22, 2024, with the ratification of the Bicameral Conference Committee Report merging SB No. 2593 and HB No. 9648.
During the 2nd Regular Meeting of the Board on 07 June 2023, the GPPB-TSO presented the highlights of the NGPA that enhances governance principles, transparency, efficiency, and the overall effectiveness of the procurement process. The GPPB-TSO highlighted that the NGPA mandates the GPPB on the formulation of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) within one hundred eighty (180) days from its effectivity for the law’s immediate implementation.
To ensure timely drafting of the IRR, the GPPB-TSO proposed the creation of committees responsible for crafting rules in specific subject areas of government procurement, namely, (1) Strategic Procurement Planning, (2) Competitive Bidding Modalities, (3)Other Modalities of Procurement, (4) Contract Management and Monitoring, and Sanction Mechanisms, and (5) PS-related Matters, which are to be headed by two members of the GPPB.
And barely a year later, just two (2) days prior to this year’s SONA, the President signed RA 12009 or the New Government Procurement Act. During the signing ceremony, President Marcos underscored the importance of the NGPA in achieving the administration’s goals for good governance. He said, “This Act is a testament to our unwavering commitment to build a government that truly serves the people by ensuring that every peso spent is accounted for and is used for the benefit of the Filipino people”. The President further highlighted one of the most significant changes with the NGPA which includes provisions on strategic procurement planning, sustainable public procurement, as well as the streamlining of the procurement process from three (3) months to just 60 days by standardizing procurement forms and institutionalizing electronic procurement.
The implementation of the NGPA is expected to significantly improve the execution of government projects. Its enactment is anticipated to foster trust among stakeholders, including local and international investors, by demonstrating the government’s dedication to ethical governance practices and to build a more transparent, accountable, and sustainable procurement system, ultimately benefiting the Filipino people.
With the initiative of ED Ruiz, the GPPB-TSO will be launching a microsite on the NGPA in the coming days. It’s an online platform to house everything about RA 12009. To promote inclusivity and public participatory in the preparation of the IRR, the microsite will enable stakeholder consultation for the five (5) IRR Committees where non-GPPB agencies, private sector groups, Civil Society Organization groups, and the public to participate with the online consultation by submitting comments on the draft IRR through the microsite.
To help procurement officers in the transition, the GPPB-TSO recently launched Billy Bayong chatbot using AI technology with FAQs on procurement rules. The GPPB-TSO will soon populate the chat bot with data sets prepared on RA 12009 so anyone can readily ask Billy Bayong on the changes introduced by the NGPA.
Follow us on FB @GovernmentProcurementPH and check our website www.gppb.gov.ph to know more about the activities related to the NGPA.
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