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At a high-level corruption summit of the UN, the Philippines expresses hopes that procurement reforms will assist forestall a repeat of the flood management corruption scandal
DOHA, Qatar – On the high-level anti-corruption summit of the United Nations in Doha, Qatar, the Philippines emerged as a poster boy of procurement reform, though the influence has but to be considerably felt again at dwelling.
The Philippines organized and led on Friday, December 19, a panel on digital inclusion and innovation in procurement, with audio system that included Procurement Service-Division of Funds and Administration (PS-DBM) chief Genmaries Entredicho-Caong and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Religion Econg.
Filipino delegates boasted developments after the Philippines handed in 2024 the New Authorities Procurement Act (NGPA), which institutionalized digital bidding and sought to cut back procurement time.
These embrace a centralized e-marketplace for common-use provides, end-to-end digital procurement by means of the Philippine authorities’s digital procurement system, and interoperable databases throughout regulatory businesses.
“This regulation is essential to us within the anti-corrupt world, as we pin our hopes that this digitalization of the procurement course of will end in much less circumstances to land within the courts. Presently, majority of the circumstances that we attempt contain graft and corruption within the procurement of products and providers, civil works, and consultancy,” Econg stated.
Entredicho-Caong, who had spoken at a procurement-related panel two days earlier, additionally touted the awards that the Philippines received within the Open Authorities Partnership in October over its “dedication to enhance information availability, interoperability, and public participation in procurement,” though some finances consultants from civil society stated the popularity didn’t mirror realities on the bottom.
“Once we submitted this entry in February, the investigations into the flood management rip-off haven’t began but,” Entredicho-Caong candidly instructed the viewers.
The Philippine delegation right here isn’t one to shrink back from mentioning the continued corruption scandal that has gripped their fellow residents. The firestorm has already been linked to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself, though the delegation targeted on what his administration is doing to go after these implicated.
In his plenary speech on Monday, December 15, Philippine delegation head Ombudsman Boying Remulla even stated the federal government has acted shortly to file fees towards high-level officers.
Chatting with Rappler after her panel on Friday, Entredicho-Caong expressed hope that authorities efforts to enact procurement reforms will assist forestall corruption schemes much like that of the flood management fiasco.
She even cited for instance the case of couple-contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya, who admitted in a Senate inquiry that they owned 9 building companies.
“Upon a evaluation of the paperwork that they keep with the Securities and Alternate Fee, it seems that two out of the 9 companies, they don’t seem to be the declared useful homeowners. So the consequence was our SEC has revoked the registration of those two firms,” Entredicho-Caong stated in her panel presentation.
She stated the reforms will make it simpler for the general public to flag battle of curiosity which will come up from the awarding of those tasks.
“Our open information portal is seen to the general public. There may be now a requirement for a useful possession registry that’s accessible to the general public, and this can be revealed on PhilGEPS. That’s what we’re ready for,” Entredicho-Caong stated.
“As soon as we obtain authority from the Authorities Procurement Coverage Board to publish it on PhilGEPS, we are going to make public no matter information we have already got,” she added.
Presently, the PhilGeps web site stays clunky, complicating journalists’ efforts to find authorities contracts.
Whereas the brand new procurement regulation turned efficient in August 2024, the three-year transitory interval solely started this 12 months.
Which means that all procuring entities have till 2028 to adjust to necessities set by the NGPA.
– Rappler.com
