Furthering enhancements to its technological capabilities, the Procurement Service – Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), through its Regional Operations Office (ROO), marked a significant step towards digitalization of government procurement following the activation of the Virtual Store (VS) in the PS-DBM Cagayan de Oro (CDO) Depot Office on August 1, 2025.
To ensure a seamless transition from traditional procurement to the VS, focal persons from the PS-DBM Main Office conducted various activities. These included physical inventory count of common-use supplies and equipment (CSE), lecture on warehouse management, reorientation of workplace organization and safety, system calibration and comprehensive walkthrough of the VS environment, and training on accounting issues and concerns—laying the groundwork for the online procurement platform.
In the course of these activities spearheaded by representatives from PS-DBM ICT and Procurement Office, Operations Office, and Administrative and Finance Office, together with ROO, personnel and staff from PS-DBM Butuan Depot Office were in attendance to observe, with Commission on Audit resident auditor and DBM accountant also present for oversight and compliance check.
In a meeting led by PS-DBM Executive Director (ED) Genmaries Entredicho-Caong, along with Deputy ED Atty. Philip Josef Vera Cruz and ROO Acting Director Judith Riza Bleza, the role of PS-DBM’s network of regional and LGU depot offices was highlighted, serving as vital hubs in extending the agency’s performance of its mandate to provinces and regions nationwide.
Since its full implementation in 2021, the VS—an e-commerce platform that allows procuring entities to view, search, select, and purchase CSE— has been instrumental in advancing digital transformation in public procurement by simplifying and streamlining processes.
Beginning this year, with PS-DBM Baguio Depot Office as the first to have gone live back in May 2025, the VS rollout is expected to be completed among other depot offices in 2026. | August 18, 2025/LR