GPRA Update: Procurement in case of natural or man-made calamity.

The GPPB has issued on December 6, 2006 Circular Letter No. 03-2006, clarifying the procurement process to be undertaken in case of the occurrence of natural or man-made calamities.

The circular reiterated the provision of Section 54.2(b) of RA 9184 and its IRR-A that the negotiated procurement is the appropriate alternative mode in case of calamity to undertake the necessary procurement to prevent damage to or loss of life or property, or restore vital public services, infra facilities and other public utilities.

What should be done. The procuring entity will simply have to negotiate with a previous supplier, contractor or consultant (depending on the item/project to be negotiated upon) in good standing who is situated within the vicinity where the calamity or emergency occurred. Please take note. The negotiation shall be with a single supplier, contractor or consultant instead of three.

Who are considered supplier, contractor, or consultant in good standing? The circular defines the term in good standing if the concerned supplier, contractor or consultant has not committed any breach of contract like short deliveries, unreasonable delays in delivery of goods or project implementation, delivery or completion of of defective goods or civil works; no negative slippage - in any previous transactions with the procuring entity or any other government entity.

Notwithstanding the simplicity of the procurement process in this case, the procuring entity is still required to post the award of contract in the GEPS, its own website and in its bulletin board.

Professionalizing Public Procurement practitioners.

The World Bank has extended to the Philippines government a new IDF grant (Institutional Development Fund) of US $ 300 T to support government's effort to establish a career path and certification program for public procurement practitioners.

The grant is given by World Bank in recognition of the Philippines concerted efforts in improving public procurement. It underscored such procurement milestones as the enactment and implementation of the GPRA (RA 9184); formulation of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR-A); establishment and operationalization of the GPPB; mandatory use of Electronic Procurement System; issuance of standard bidding document and forms; and more recently, the roll-out of the Generic Procurement Manuals.

The project to be financed by the grant will consist of two (2) parts: to provide technical assistance to the government in creating the career stream for public procurement practitioners; and support the development and roll-out of a complete public procurement and logistics training modules and certification program.

The project will be implemented by the GPPB and its Technical Support Office.

Reaching out to the Barangays.

After having completed the roll-out of the Generic Procurement Manuals to provinces, cities and municipalities in Region VI, the Training Team will start reaching out to the barangays. Unlike the previously concluded trainings, the module for the barangays will be a little bit simpler and the duration shortened.

The Team will concentrate on updating the procurement officials of barangays on the latest resolutions and policies issued by the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB), particularly along alternative modes of procurement, small value procurement, and procurement by administration and pakyaw system.

As we have done in the past, trainings for barangays are carried out by batches, considering that there are 4,046 of them in the region. The first 3 batches are scheduled on December 12-13; 14-15; and 19-20. These will cover only the barangays in the city and some from the province of Iloilo. The subsequent seminars will be held starting January 2007.