The Procurement Service – Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), through its Executive Director (ED) Atty. Dennis S. Santiago, presented Procurement Basics and latest updates on government acquisition rules before a crowd of budget officers in the 2023 1st Philippine Association for Government Budget Administration (PAGBA), Inc. Quarterly Meeting held in Baguio City on April 28, 2023.
Consistent with the event’s theme, “Responding to the Continuing Challenges of Innovations and Technology to Public Financial Management,” ED Santiago zeroed in on the procurement process. Focusing on the role of end-users in procurement planning, his lecture highlighted the preparation of Annual Procurement Plan (APP) and the Project Procurement Management Plan (PPMP), which were discussed in the context of the latest procurement guidelines.
Alongside the fundamental procurement concepts, ED Santiago touched on the "vulnerabilities and risks in public procurement.” He also elaborated on the ways in which procurement risks are managed within the context of "Contract Management" to ensure transparency, efficiency, equity, competition, accountability, public monitoring, and economy (TEE-CAPE) in the procurement process.
DBM Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, in her keynote speech, pointed out that improvements in public financial management require proactive governance — an effort that PS-DBM fully supports through its initiatives to streamline and digitalize the procurement process.
Held from April 26 to 29, the four-day event — that also featured lectures on accounting, auditing, budgeting, compensation and allowances, human resource, investments, taxation, and service integrity program, among others — gathered the presence of around 2,500 public fiscal practitioners from National Government Agencies, Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations, State Universities and Colleges, and Local Government Units.
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong was also in attendance.