Bongbong Marcos wants accreditation system for online gov’t procurement

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. leads the distribution of various government aid to flood-affected towns in Pampanga on Monday, August 07, 2023, in San Fernando City. Pampanga. (File photo by KJ ROSALES/PPA POOL)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. wants to implement an online government procurement accreditation system following the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) proposed e-Marketplace for government procurement of motor vehicles, Malacañang said Wednesday.

“There will still be an element of accreditation because we cannot just open the market to anything,” Marcos said during a sectoral meeting with DBM and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) in Malacañang on Tuesday.

Marcos saw the risk that the government might procure from bidders that don’t deliver the promised items.

He was also concerned about items that may be overpriced.

“To safeguard against that, kailangan accredited ‘yung kausap natin,” said Marcos.

(To safeguard against that, whoever we are talking with must be accredited.)

According to Malacañang, the e-market will be under the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), an electronic commerce service operated by DBM.

“With the rapid transformation in technology over the past two decades and with (the) onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, the public relied heavily on digital transactions, compelling authorities to consider making government procurement more attuned to the changing times,” the Palace said.

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