House bill seeks to abolish Budget procurement arm

A BILL that seeks to abolish the Budget department’s Procurement Service, which the Senate is investigating for contracts that allegedly disadvantaged the government, has been filed at the House of Representatives.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez filed House Bill 10222, which will transfer the procurement of common-use supplies to agencies.

The congressman said the Government Procurement Reform Act has made the Procurement Service “redundant and irrelevant.” Under the law, government agencies were mandated to create a procurement board and form their own bids and awards committees.

He said the Budget department’s procurement arm was created to take advantage of economies of scale by handling purchases of common-use supplies and equipment.

Senator María Imelda “Imee” Josefa R. Marcos filed a counterpart bill on Sept. 9, noting that the Budget office had become “a fertile breeding ground of graft and corruption.”

In a separate statement, Mr. Rodriguez cited the office’s “many issues and controversies.”

“The Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management has also been hounded by allegations of improper procedure and overpriced acquisitions,” he said.

The Budget department’s Procurement Service has come under fire after it entered into P8.68 billion worth of government contracts for overpriced face masks and other medical supplies with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.