With great pride and utmost humility, the Procurement Service - Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) officially introduces the Philippine Government’s first and official electronic commerce platform, the eMarketplace, following the successful ceremonial launching event at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on December 13, 2024.
What was once a vision is now a reality—this is how DBM Secretary Amenah “Mina” F. Pangandaman refers to the momentous occasion. In her keynote message, she recognized that the innovative concept was first envisioned by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. (PBBM) in line with his administration’s digital transformation agenda.
“As early as August 2023, when we first presented the proposed amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act, the President underscored the importance of developing an innovative system that would make the procurement process more efficient,” said Sec. Mina, emphasizing that the transformation of the Philippine public procurement landscape has always been one of her top priorities when she was appointed as the Budget Chief.
Poised to streamline the procurement process through simplified eligibility requirements and systems interconnectivity—with features similar to the mainstream online ordering platforms that allow Procuring Entities to search, select, compare, purchase, and review CSE—the eMarketplace is expected to reduce procurement timeline, prevent corruption, improve competition, ensure bureaucratic efficiency and transparency, and generate savings for the government.
Blast from the Past
When PBBM signed into law the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) on July 20, 2024, the digitalization of the public procurement process was cemented through various innovative and modernized features, such as the eMarketplace.
Even prior to the enactment of the NGPA, PS-DBM already received PBBM’s nod of approval to create the eMarketplace in a sectoral meeting at the Malacañang in May 2023. This took place at a time when PS-DBM, under the guidance and support of Sec. Mina, was rebuilding itself after having been confronted with challenges that the agency ultimately conquered.
The passage of NGPA reinforced PS-DBM’s mandate as the central procuring arm for the CSE requirements of the whole government, including local government units. While the implementing rules and regulations for the NGPA have yet to be finalized, where PS-DBM also actively takes part in, the guidelines for the pilot implementation of the eMarketplace were already approved in October 2024, eventually taking effect on November 30, 2024.
Exactly two weeks since then, on December 14, 2024, just a day after the ceremonial launching event, the list of common-use supplies and equipment (CSE) available for purchase in the eMarketplace was published in the Manila Bulletin—signalling the actual commencement of the pilot implementation.
Now is the Future
As of writing, the eMarketplace is up and running, and client-agencies may now order motor vehicles as pilot CSE. In the coming months, more CSE items will be onboarded such as airline tickets, cloud computing services, and software and licenses, among others. The PS-DBM Virtual Store, another online ordering portal for CSE, will soon be integrated with the eMarketplace system to further expand the agency’s roster of goods and products.
At the event, this overview of the eMarketplace was presented by PS-DBM ED Genmaries “Gen” S. Entredicho-Caong, “Of the many transformative initiatives for procurement that the PS-DBM pursues, the eMarketplace lays the foundation for the institutionalization of more progressive reforms in order to improve the delivery of public services for the Filipino people.”
ED Gen’s discussion followed her and Sec. Mina’s symbolic pressing of the button that eventually revealed the platform’s official logo, ushering in the new era of procurement that unfolded before the crowd—a gathering of the agency’s key stakeholders representing government agencies, private sector, and civil society organizations including the Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and World Bank.
A video presentation on the basic features of the eMarketplace was showcased, providing the participants with a virtual walkthrough of the ordering process. The program also allotted time for government agencies with demand for motor vehicles to express their statement of support.
Together with Sec. Mina were other officials of DBM, witnessing the milestone made possible by the leadership of ED Gen and other members of the PS-DBM Executive Management Committee, namely Rommel D. Rivera, Deputy ED for ICT and Procurement; Atty. Philip Josef T. Vera Cruz, Deputy ED for Operations, Logistics, and Supply Chain; Dr. Maria Teresita M. Semana, PhilGEPS Director; and the rest of the PS-DBM workforce.
“Today, we are turning history into a legacy. And we have only just begun,” ED Gen remarked.
Applauding its efforts, Sec. Mina congratulated PS-DBM. “Add to cart na!” she concluded. | December 13, 2024/Comms