Andaya: DBM violates law for hiring contractual workers at procurement unit

Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. INQUIRER.net file photo / Noy Morcoso

MANILA, Philippines — House appropriations committee chair Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. has accused the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) of committing yet another “illegal” act for allegedly having non-permanent members of its Procurement Service’s (PS) bids and awards committees (BACs).

The Camarines Sur congressman said the members of the BACs are contractual and job order employees. DBM-PS Executive Director Bingle Gutierrez is also a contractual employee whose term expires this June, he added.

“This is illegal. A clear violation of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act,” said the former Majority Leader, who relinquished his post on Monday.

“How can contractual employees be responsible for bidding [out] these big projects? Sa halip na permanenteng empleyado ng DOTr (Department of Transportation) ang magsagawa ng bidding, ipinasa sa contractual employees ng DBM-PS. Hindi ba malinaw na may anomalya rito?” he asked.

READ: Andaya quits as majority leader after irking Palace

Section 11 of Republic Act No. 9814 states that: “Each procuring entity shall establish a single BAC for its procurement. The BAC shall have at least five (5) members, but not more than seven (7) members. It shall be chaired by at least a third ranking permanent official of the procuring entity other than its head, and its composition shall be specified in the IRR.”

Gutierrez, Andaya said, has admitted during Monday’s hearing that the entire office of DBM-PS has a total of 396 personnel, with 279 contractual workers and 117 job order personnel. 

The lawmaker also earlier questioned why the “small” DBM office facilitated the bidding of P198-billion worth of government contracts in 2018, claiming that it was not part of their mandate. This, he said, includes P168-billion major projects under President Rodrigo Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.

READ: Andaya questions bidding role of DBM unit | Andaya accuses DBM of illegally bidding out P198-B gov’t contracts

READ: Andaya: DBM’s ‘small office’ is not mandated to bid out multi-billion contracts

Andaya, former House committee of rules chair, has launched an investigation into the alleged budget anomalies and questionable acts in the DBM under Budget Sec. Benjamin Diokno.

The investigation has been transferred from the rules committee to the appropriations committee, which Andaya now chairs. Andaya said he intends to schedule a follow-up hearing next week. /jpv