Relevant changes to the IRR of RA 9184 (2nd draft)

This is a continuation of my post on February 3rd about the proposed changes/amendment to the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 9184 or the GPRA.

After the completion of that series of consultation-workshops with procurement practitioners and other stakeholders, the GPPB-TSO came out with the second draft of the IRR and posted the same in the GPPB website for those who would like to download a copy.

Here are the additional changes:

Posting of procurement opportunities: Procuring entities shall also post the bidding documents at its website and at the PhilGEPS website from the time the Invitation to Bid is advertised. Prospective bidders may download the documents from the website and pay the corresponding fees upon submission of their bids.

Alternative Methods of Procurement: Another subsection was added in Section 48, thus: "the method of procurement to be used shall be as indicated in the approved APP. If the original mode of procurement in the APP was public bidding but cannot be ultimately pursued, The BAC through a resolution, shall justify and recommend the change in the mode of procurement to be approved by the Head of the Procuring Entity".

Shopping (Section 52): The maximum amount of goods that can be procured through shopping during unforeseen contingency has been increased from Php 50,000 to Php 100,000. On the other hand, the benchmark for shopping of ordinary or regular office supplies and equipment not available in the Procurement Service, has been increased from Php 250,000 to Php 500,000.

Negotiated Procurement (Section 53): The maximum amount that can be procured through negotiated procurement has been increased from Php 50,000 to Php 500,000. Another type of negotiated procurement is added that is, the procurement from specialized agencies of the United Nations but is limited to small quantities of off-the-shelf goods, primarily in the fields of education the and health; specialized products where the number of suppliers is limited such as vaccines or drugs.