Requesting Entity: Ormoc City – Office of the City Mayor

Issues Concern: Advertising and Posting Requirement

Details

Whether or not Executive Order No. 40, Series of 2001 (E.O. 40) may still be used until such time that the IRR of R.A. 9184 is approved.

Although R.A. 9184 was signed into law by her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on January 10, 2003 and became effective on January 26, 2003, the said legislative enactment cannot be applied in its totality without its Implementing Rules and Regulations (“IRR”). In consonance with this, we wish to inform your office that the IRR Part A (“IRR-A”) of R.A. 9184 was finalized by the Government Procurement Policy Board (“GPPB”) and the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (“JCOC”) on July 11, 2003, and that it has already been approved by the President through Memorandum Order No. 119, dated September 18, 2003. We wish to inform your office further that the IRR-A of R.A. 9184 was published in two (2) newspapers of general nationwide circulation, namely, Manila Times and Malaya, on September 23, 2003. As such, in accordance with Section 78 of the said IRR-A, it “shall take effect fifteen (15) calendar days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general nationwide circulation.”

In this regard, please note that IRR-A of R.A. 9184, under Section 77 thereof, provides as follows:

Section 77. Transitory Clause

In all procurement activities, if the advertisement or invitation for bids was issued prior to the effectivity of the Act, the provisions of E.O. 40 and its IRR, P.D. 1594 and its IRR, R.A. 7160 and its IRR, or other applicable laws, as the case may be, shall govern.

In cases where the advertisements or invitations for bids were issued after the effectivity of the Act but before the effectivity of this IRR-A, procuring entities may continue adopting the procurement procedures, rules and regulations provided in E.O. 40 and its IRR, P.D. 1594 and its IRR, R.A. 7160 and its IRR, or other applicable laws, as the case may be.

Based on the above-quoted provision, if the Invitation to Bid for the procurement of consulting services was advertised by your office prior to the effectivity of the IRR-A of R.A. 9184 but after the effectivity of R.A. 9184, we believe your office has sufficient legal basis in applying the provisions of Executive Order No. 40, Series of 2001 (“E.O. 40”). However, if the Invitation to Bid for the said procurement has not yet been advertised to this date, we suggest that the same be made after the effectivity of IRR-A, particularly on October 8, 2003, in view of the above-quoted Section 78 thereof, so that it may completely fall within the coverage of R.A. 9184.