A pleasant afternoon once again to all the members of the Government Procurement Policy Board and every fellow public servant who is here with us for this year-end meeting.

I would like to thank all of you for supporting reform-oriented and people-centric initiatives that benefit the whole government and of course, our countrymen. I would like to commend the leadership of Executive Director Atty. Rowena Ruiz for encouraging everyone to carry out the Philippine government’s public procurement reform agenda.

I know that having to gather, engage with people who can help us, and re-orient ourselves to new ways of doing the things we have been doing for decades is a challenge in itself. Nevertheless, you willingly worked in unity, with us, and the other members of the Inter-agency Technical Working Group so we could set the foundations for up-to-date, technology-driven, and efficient public procurement policies, rules, and regulations.

We can also look forward to fruitful years ahead as we spearhead the implementation of the Green Public Procurement Roadmap which will integrate green choices in public procurement and put us closer to our ultimate goal of ensuring sustainable management and use of natural resources by 2030. As you all know, this is an advocacy that is really close to my heart.

That is why I am so grateful to all of you for strengthening collaborations and expanding networks that will result in multi-faceted solutions and innovations—all as we tread the path towards economic transformation. Coupled with our initiatives to digitalize government processes, records, and databases, this would hopefully help us realize our shared aspiration to take the Philippine procurement regime to the next level. And let us continue to educate our public procurement practitioners—the new ones and old ones alike.

​Thus, we still have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of the public and meet international standards of procurement. But I truly believe that with sincerity in service, a focused determination to improve, and with the proper use of technology and digitalization for efficiency and transparency, we can transform procurement policies and processes to be a mechanism that will thrust forward and truly help us achieve our Agenda for Prosperity. ​

Maraming salamat po. Assalamu alaikum, and may this holiday season bring hope, joy, and prosperity to you and your families. Mabuhay po tayong lahat!