Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

4715

House Bill No.
———_——_
Introduced by DIWA Party-list Representative Emmeline Y. Aglipay

—_—.

‘The inclusion of general support services, non-personal services, and contractual services
under the term "Goods", and the concomitant application of the simpler bidding and eligibility
requirements for goods, means that price is the only factor that the government can consider
when it comes to biddings for the abovementioned services. This has created an untenable
situation where service contractors cut legal corners--including undermining labor standards,
particularly provisions on the minimum wage--in order to ensure they have the lowest possible
calculated price.

It is unacceptable to have a bidding process wherein the most unscrupulous of employers
has an institutionalized unfair advantage, This bill seeks to remedy this problem by reclassifying
general support services, non-personal services, and contractual services under a new category,
"Contractual Services", and applying to the said classification new bidding and eligibility
requirements similar to those for Consulting Services, with particular emphasis on ensuring that
compliance with labor laws must be taken into account in calculating ratings and determining the
winning bidder.

EMMELINE x, AGLIPAY

Representative, DIWA Party-list

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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

4715
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by DIWA Party-list Representative Emmeline Y. Aglipay

AN ACT AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO, 9184, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE
GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT REFORM ACT

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9184 is hereby amended to read as follows:

SECTION 4. - Scope and Application. — This Act shall apply to the Procurement of
Infrastructure Projects, Goods, CONTRACTUAL SERVICES, and Consulting Services,
regardless of source of funds, whether local or foreign, by all branches and
instrumentalities of government, its departments, offices and agencies, including
government-owned and/or -controlled corporations and local government units, subject to
the provisions of Commonwealth Act No. 138. Any treaty or international or executive
agreement affecting the subject matter of this Act to which the Philippine government is a
signatory shall be observed.

SECTION 2. Section 5 of Republic Act No. 9184 is hereby amended to read as follows:

SECTION 5. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following terms or
words and phrases shall mean or be understood as follows:

(@) _ Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) — refers to the budget for the contract
duly approved by the Head of the Procuring Entity, as provided for in the General
Appropriations Act and/or continuing appropriations, in the case of National Government
Agencies; the Corporate Budget for the contract approved by the governing Boards,
pursuant to E.0, No. 518, series of 1979, in the case of Government-Owned and/or
Controlled Corporations, Government Financial Institutions and State Universities and
Colleges; and the Budget for the contract approved by the respective Sanggunian, in the
case of Local Government Units.

(b) BAC — refers to the Bids and Awards Committee established in accordance with
Article V of this Act.

(©) __ Bidding Documents — refer to documents issued by the Procuring Entity as the
basis for Bids, furnishing all information necessary for a prospective bidder to prepare a
bid for the Goods, Infrastructure Projects, CONTRACTUAL SERVICES, and Consulting
Services to be provided.

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(a) Bid — refers toa signed offer or proposal submitted by a supplier, manufacturer,
distributor, contractor or consultant in response to the Bidding Documents.

(©) Competitive Bidding — refers to a method of procurement which is open to
participation by any interested party and which consists of the following processes:
advertisement, pre-bid conference, eligibility screening of prospective bidders, receipt and
opening of bids, evaluation of bids, post-qualification, and award of contract, the specific
requirements and mechanics of which shall be defined in the IRR to be promulgated under
this Act.

® Consulting Services — refer to services for Infrastructure Projects and other types
of projects or activities of the Government requiring adequate external technical and
professional expertise that are beyond the capability and/or capacity of the government to
undertake such as, but not limited to: (i) advisory and review services; (ii) pre-investment
or feasibility studies; (iii) design; (iv) construction supervision; (v) management and
related services; and (vi) other technical services or special studies. SEIDAC

(G) CONTRACTUAL SERVICES — GENERAL SUPPORT SERVICES,
EXCEPT CONSULTING SERVICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS,
INCLUDING NON-PERSONAL OR CONTRACTUAL SERVICES SUCH AS THE
REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE OF EQUIPMENT AND FURNITURE, AS WELL
AS TRUCKING, HAULING, JANITORIAL, SECURITY, AND RELATED OR
ANALOGOUS SERVICES.

(g)(h)_ G-EPS — refers to the Government Electronic Procurement System as provided
in Section 8 of this Act.

(8) @ Goods — refer to all items, supplies, AND materials and-general-support-services,
1gservices—and—infrastructure—projeets; which may be needed in the
transaction of public businesses or in the pursuit of any government undertaking, project or
activity, whether in the nature of equipment, furniture, stationery, materials for
construction, or personal Property of any kind;ineluding-non-persenalorcontractual
juch~as~the-repairand—maintenance-of-equipment-and—furniture—as-well-as
tracking hauling, janitorial, securi ‘analogous-serv s—, as well as
procurement of materials and supplies provided by the procuring entity for such-services
CONTRACTUAL SERVICES.

@@)__ GPPB — refers to the Government Procurement Policy Board established in
accordance with Article XX of this Act

@ (K)__ Head of the Procuring Entity — refers to: (i) the head of the agency or his duly
authorized official, for national government agencies; (ji) the governing board or its duly
authorized official, for government-owned and/or -controlled corporations; or (iii) the local
chief executive, for local government units. Provided, That in a department, office or
agency where the procurement is decentralized, the Head of each decentralized unit shall
be considered as the Head of the Procuring Entity subject to the limitations and authority
delegated by the head of the department, office or agency.

() ()_ Infrastructure Projects — include the construction, improvement, rehabilitation,
demolition, repair, restoration or maintenance of roads and bridges, railways, airports,
seaports, communication facilities, civil works components of information technology
projects, irrigation, flood control and drainage, water supply, sanitation, sewerage and solid
waste management systems, shore protection, energy/power and electrification facilities,
national buildings, school buildings, hospital buildings and other related construction
projects of the government.

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@®(m)_ IRR — refer to the implementing rules and regulations to be promulgated in
accordance with Section 75 of this Act

(m) (n) Portal — refers to a website that aggregates a wide variety of content for the
purpose of attracting a large number of users.

() (0) Procurement — refers to the acquisition of Goods, CONTRACTUAL
SERVICES, Consulting Services, and the contracting for Infrastructure Projects by the
Procuring Entity. Procurement shall also include the lease of goods and real estate. With
respect to real property, its procurement shall be governed by the provisions of Republic
Act No. 8974, entitled "An Act to Facilitate the Acquisition of Right-of-Way Site or
Location for National Government Infrastructure Projects and for Other Purposes", and
other applicable laws, rules and regulations.

()(p) Procuring Entity — refers to any branch, department, office, agency, or
instrumentality of the government, including state universities and colleges, government
owned and/or -controlled corporations, government financial institutions, and local
government units procuring Goods, Contractual Services, Consulting Services and
Infrastructure Projects.

SECTION 3. Section 8 of Republic Act No. 9184 is hereby amended to read as follows:

SECTION 8. Procurement By Electronic Means. — To promote transparency and
efficiency, information and communications technology shall be utilized in the conduct of
procurement procedures. Accordingly, there shall be a single portal that shall serve as the
primary source of information on all government procurement. The G-EPS shall serve as
the primary and definitive source of information on government procurement. Further, the
GPPB is authorized to approve changes in the procurement process to adapt to
improvements in modern technology, provided that such modifications are consistent with
the provisions of Section 3 of this :

Cs

To take advantage of the significant built-in efficiencies of the G-EPS and the volume
discounts inherent in bulk purchasing, all Procuring Entities shall utilize the G-EPS for the
procurement of common supplies in accordance with the rules and procedures to be
established by the GPPB. With regard to the procurement of non-common use items,
infrastructure projects, CONTRACTUAL SERVICES, and consulting services, agencies
may hire service providers to undertake their electronic procurement provided these service
providers meet the minimum requirements set by the GPPB.

SECTION 4. Section 21() of Republic Act No. 9184 is hereby amended to read as follows:

(b) A general statement on the criteria to be used by the Procuring Entity for the
eligibility check, the short listing of prospective bidders, in the case of the Procurement of
CONTRACTUAL AND Consulting Services, the examination and evaluation of Bids,
and post-qualification;

SECTION 5. Republic Act No. 9184 is hereby amended with the addition of a section 23-A, to
read as follows:

SECTION 23-A. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND SHORT LISTING
FOR CONTRACTUAL SERVICES. — THE ELIGIBILITY OF PROSPECTIVE
BIDDERS FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF CONTRACTUAL SERVICES SHALL
BE DETERMINED BY THEIR COMPLIANCE WITH THE ELIGIBILITY
REQUIREMENTS PRESCRIBED FOR THE COMPETITIVE BIDDING
CONCERNED, WITHIN THE PERIOD STATED IN THE INVITATION TO BID.
THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS SHALL PROVIDE FOR FAIR AND
EQUAL ACCESS TO ALL PROSPECTIVE BIDDERS. THE PROSPECTIVE

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BIDDER SHALL CERTIFY UNDER OATH AS TO THE CORRECTNESS OF THE
STATEMENTS MADE, AND THE COMPLETENESS AND AUTHENTICITY OF
THE DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED.

A PROSPECTIVE BIDDER MAY BE ALLOWED TO SUBMIT ELIGIBILITY
REQUIREMENTS ELECTRONICALLY. HOWEVER, SAID BIDDER SHALL
LATER ON CERTIFY UNDER OATH AS TO CORRECTNESS OF THE
STATEMENTS MADE AND THE COMPLETENESS AND AUTHENTICITY OF
THE DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED.

THE ELIGIBLE PROSPECTIVE BIDDERS SHALL THEN BE EVALUATED
USING NUMERICAL RATINGS ON THE BASIS OF THE SHORT LISTING
REQUIREMENTS PRESCRIBED FOR THE COMPETITIVE BIDDING
CONCERNED, WITHIN THE PERIOD STATED IN THE INVITATION TO BID
TO DETERMINE THE SHORT LIST OF BIDDERS WHO SHALL BE ALLOWED
‘TO SUBMIT THEIR RESPECTIVE BIDS.

SECTION 6. Republic Act No. 9184 is hereby amended with the addition of a section 32-A, to
read as follows:

SECTION 32-A. BID EVALUATION OF SHORT LISTED BIDDERS FOR
CONTRACTUAL SERVICES. — FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF CONSULTING
SERVICES, THE BIDS OF THE SHORT LISTED BIDDERS SHALL BE
EVALUATED AND RANKED USING NUMERICAL RATINGS IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE EVALUATION CRITERIA STATED IN THE
BIDDING DOCUMENTS, WHICH SHALL INCLUDE FACTORS SUCH AS, BUT
NOT LIMITED TO, EXPERIENCE, PERFORMANCE, QUALITY OF
PERSONNEL, PRICE, METHODOLOGY, AND ABILITY TO COMPLY WITH
PERTINENT LABOR LAWS, INCLUDING MINIMUM WAGE. THE BIDS
SHALL BE RANKED FROM HIGHEST TO LOWEST IN TERMS OF THEIR
CORRESPONDING CALCULATED RATINGS. THE BID WITH THE HIGHEST
CALCULATED RATING SHALL BE THE "HIGHEST RATED BID." AFTER
APPROVAL BY THE HEAD OF THE PROCURING ENTITY OF THE HIGHEST
RATED BID, THE BAC SHALL INVITE THE BIDDER CONCERNED FOR
NEGOTIATION AND/OR CLARIFICATION ON THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:
FINANCIAL PROPOSAL SUBMITTED BY THE BIDDER, TERMS OF
REFERENCE, SCOPE OF SERVICES, METHODOLOGY AND WORK
PROGRAM, PERSONNEL TO BE ASSIGNED TO THE JOB,
SERVICES/FACILITIES/DATA TO BE PROVIDED BY THE PROCURING
ENTITY CONCERNED, AND PROVISIONS OF THE CONTRACT. WHEN
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE FIRST-IN-RANK BIDDER FAILS, THE
FINANCIAL PROPOSAL OF THE SECOND RANK BIDDER SHALL BE
OPENED FOR NEGOTIATIONS: PROVIDED, THAT THE AMOUNT
INDICATED IN THE FINANCIAL ENVELOPE SHALL BE MADE AS THE
BASIS FOR NEGOTIATIONS AND THE TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT SHALL.
NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT INDICATED IN TE
WHENEVER NECESSARY, THE SAME PROCESS SHALL
UNTIL THE BID IS AWARDED TO THE WINNING BIDDER.

SECTION 7. Section 34 of Republic Act No. 9184 is hereby amended to read as follows

SECTION 34. Objective and Process of Post-qualification. — Post-qualification is the
stage where the bidder with the Lowest Calculated Bid, in the case of Goods and
Infrastructure Projects, or the Highest Rated Bid, in the case of CONTRACTUAL
SERVICES AND Consulting Services, undergoes verification and validation whether he
has passed all the requirements and conditions as specified in the Bidding Documents.

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If the bidder with the Lowest Calculated Bid or Highest Rated Bid passes all the criteria for
post-qualification, his Bid shall be considered the "Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid," in
the case of Goods and Infrastructure or the "Highest Rated Responsive Bid," in the case of
CONTRACTUAL SERVICES AND Consulting Services. However, if a bidder fails to
meet any of the requirements or conditions, he shall be "post-disqualified" and the BAC
shall conduct the post-qualification on the bidder with the second Lowest Calculated Bid or
Highest Rated Bid. If the bidder with the second Lowest Calculated Bid or Highest Rated
Bid is post-disqualified, the same procedure shall be repeated until the Lowest Calculated
Responsive Bid or Highest Rated Responsive Bid is finally determined. SEIDAC

In all cases, the contract shall be awarded only to the bidder with the Lowest Calculated
Responsive Bid or Highest Rated Responsive Bid

SECTION 8. REPEALING CLAUSE. - All laws, decrees, rules and regulations or parts
thereof, which are contrary to or inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.

SECTION 9. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE. - If any part or provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and
effect.

SECTION 10. EFFECTIVITY CLAUSE. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from
its publication in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation after its approval by the
President.

Approved.

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