Department of Budget and Management Secretary and concurrent Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Chairperson Amenah F. Pangandaman emphasized digitalization of the government’s procurement processes as a cornerstone of achieving bureaucratic efficiency during the Ceremonial Signing of the Data Sharing Agreement between the GPPB and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held October 26, 2022.
“The work we’ve done here today, in furtherance of the UN’s sustainable development goals, is also an affirmation of our commitment to improve the procurement process and pursue E-governance as we move closer to the finalization of the revised procurement reports. Our shared efforts signify our belief that the conduct of proper procurement should be guided by bureaucratic efficiency, transparency, and service to the people,” Secretary Pangandaman said.
Pangandaman pointed out that the pilot testing of the revised Procurement Reports is a milestone towards improved planning and monitoring by Procuring Entities.
This undertaking, similar to the data sharing agreement with the SEC, is the government’s step to transforming public procurement system, according to Secretary Pangandaman. The revised Procurement Reports and data sharing agreement with the SEC will further magnify the government’s ability to fix bottlenecks and identify delays in procurement through offering a holistic view of the status of government procurement. Moreover, these engagements will equip the government with tools in making data-driven decisions and actions.
Pangandaman described the automated procurement reports as a source of “clear and real-time picture of an institution’s procurement performance by generating diagnostics that will help it adjust and set priority action plans for improvement.”
GPPB-Technical Support Office Executive Director Rowena Candice M. Ruiz, in the same event, underscored integrity of procurement and competition in the market as two crucial areas to consider in government procurement. “It’s very important for us, in understanding what we do in government, not only in open, transparent, and accountable public procurement, but also making sure that everything that we do, we look into how this would affect the integrity of procurement, competition in the market, which is very, very critical at this point in time as we all try to really rebound from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic.”
Apart from informing the automated procurement reports, Secretary Pangandaman noted that the DBM works towards the development and implementation of the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS). As a centralized database, the BTMS will facilitate the generation of vital information of government financial transactions; enable real-time mapping of transactions, from purchase to payment; and allow expedient and accurate financial management, improved data governance, and enhanced oversight control.
“The key objective of the BTMS,” Pangandaman said, “is to achieve the future state of Public Financial Management where all spending agencies would capture government transactions at source using the BTMS as the sole accounting and fiscal reporting system.”
Stressing that the budget department works towards further digitalization of the government’s procurement processes, Secretary Pangandaman mentioned her recent visit at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC where she met with World Bank Country Director Ndiame Diop to talk about technical assistance on the matter.
###END###
