The Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) of the Procurement Service – Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) announced during a meeting on 18 August 2023 the pioneer implementation of the eBidding facility, prompting the projected full utilization of the Modernized PhilGEPS (mPhilGEPS) by 2024.
PS-DBM, before a crowd of representatives from the pioneer agencies, discussed the issuance of Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Resolution No. 10-2022 titled “Conditionally Approving the Pioneer Implementation of the Electronic Bidding Facility in the mPhilGEPS for Fiscal Year 2023.” This directs the agencies to publish procurement activities in the mPhilGEPS and utilize all its functionalities, from uploading of the Annual Procurement Plan to Contract Implementation.
Initially deployed in 2021 among pilot agencies, the eBidding facility of mPhilGEPS is an online platform aimed at improving efficiency and transparency in the public procurement process.
In his remarks, PS-DBM Executive Director Dennis Santiago emphasized the relevance and importance of this undertaking in the government’s thrust to digitalize its operations, which include streamlining the government procurement process.
“Digitilization is key to reforming public procurement system. As a matter of fact, as early as 2003, we already started the digitalization concept through the GEPS. It became PhilGEPS, and now mPhilGEPS,” he said.
The activity — which also gathered the agencies’ plans, activities, and timeline — was attended by PhilGEPS Director Maria Teresita Semana and head of Information Technology Research and Planning Division (ITRP) Mary Jane Dacumos.
ITRP has already set a work plan to ensure compliance of the pioneer agencies with the implementation, ultimately geared towards instituting a more open, transparent, efficient, and competitive public procurement process.