Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

5521

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by
REPRESENTATIVE PANTALEON D. ALVAREZ

AN ACT
AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9184, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
“AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MODERNIZATION,
STANDARDIZATION AND REGULATION OF THE
PROCUREMENT ACTIVITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT” AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Republic Act No, 9184 (RA No. 9184), otherwise known as the
“Government Procurement Reform Act,” was enacted to establish a
Government Procurement System free from graft and corruption
through the use of standardized and regularized processes and
procedures.

While said processes and procedures have indeed worked to curb
transactions which are detrimental to Government, they have likewise
created an atmosphere where the pricing of goods and services is
prioritized over their quality. Such a situation, however, does not
necessarily translate into the best benefit for Government. True enough,
Government cannot sacrifice the quality of the goods and services it
seeks to acquire in its pursuit of obtaining the lowest prices for such
goods and services. This is particularly true today with the emergence of
low-cost goods which may, at first glance, seem to approximate the


characteristics and features of more established products, but do not
actually provide the same value.

Moreover, even as the stringent requirements and procedures of
the law may be necessary to safeguard the best interests of Government,
these same requirements and procedures have, at times, proven to
unduly delay and hamstring the delivery of certain services to the public
in cases of extreme urgency and necessity. Consequently, there is a need
to empower Government to act swiftly in such cases in order to
minimize, if not prevent, damage to life and property.

In similar fashion, there is also a need to enable Government to
freely act with haste in exceptional cases where the processes and
procedures provided by the law are unnecessary, such as when there are
recognized standardized and fixed industry prices for such goods. To
prevent potential abuse of exemption from public bidding, the proposed
measure provides for Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB)
action in identifying covered industries and providing guidelines in
assessing such industry prices.

This proposed measure aims, among others, to ensure that the
quality of the goods and services to be procured by Government is not
sacrificed as it pursues the best price for such goods and services. For
this reason, it empowers the BAC to also consider the quality of the
goods and services to be acquired by Government, consistent with
guidelines to be provided by the GPPB.

The measure likewise seeks to expedite bureaucratic processes in
cases where the need for public bidding has been rendered unnecessary
by contracts which are priced equal to or lower than the Suggested
Retail Price (SRP) identified by relevant government agencies.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

PANTALEON VAREZ

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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 5521

Introduced by
REPRESENTATIVE PANTALEON D. ALVAREZ

AN ACT
AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9184, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
“AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MODERNIZATION,
STANDARDIZATION AND REGULATION OF THE
PROCUREMENT ACTIVITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT” AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES

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

SECTION 1. Section 3 of Republic Act No. 9184, otherwise known as
“An Act Providing for the Modernization, Standardization, and
Regulation of the Procurement Activities of the Government” is hereby
amended to read as follows:

“Section 3. Governing Principles on Government Procurement.
All procurement of the national government, its departments,
bureaus, offices and agencies, including state universities and
colleges, government -owned and/or-controlled corporations,
government financial institutions and local government units,
shall, in all cases, be governed by these principles: ‘

“(A) Transparency in the procurement process and in the
implementation of procurement contracts.

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“(B) Competitiveness by extending equal opportunity to enable
private contracting parties who are eligible and qualified to
participate in public bidding IN PROVIDING THE BEST
QUALITY OF GOODS AND SERVICES AT THE MOST
ADVANTAGEOUS TERMS FOR THE GOVERNMENT.

“(C) xxx
“(D) xxx

“(F) xxx

SECTION 2. Section 25 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as
follows:

“Section 25. Submission and Receipt of Bids. - A bid shall have two (2)
components, namely the technical and financial components
which should be in separate sealed envelopes, and which shall be
submitted simultaneously. The bids shall be received by the BAC
on such date, time and place specified in the invitation to bid, The
deadline for the receipt of bids shall be fixed by the BAC, giving
the prospective bidders sufficient time to study and prepare their
bids. The deadline shall also consider the urgency of the
procurement involved. Bids submitted after the deadline shall not
be accepted, PROVIDED THAT IN CASES WHERE THE
DEADLINE COINCIDES WITH AN UNFORSEEN NATURAL
CALAMITY OR EMERGENCY NECESSITATING THE
POSTPONEMENT OF SUBMISSION OF THE BIDS, BIDS
MAY BE RECEIVED BY THE BIDS AND AWARDS
COMMITTEE ON THE NEXT WORKING DAY FOLLOWING
SAID NATURAL CALAMITY OR EMERGENCY.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section and Section 26 of
this Act, the GPPB may prescribe innovative procedure for the
submission, receipt and opening of bids through the G-EPS.

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SECTION 3. Section 32 of the Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Section 32. Bid for the Procurement of Goods and Infrastructure Projects. -
For the procurement of Goods and Infrastructure Projects, the BAC
shall evaluate the financial component of the bids. The bids that
passed the preliminary examination shall be ranked from lowest to
highest in terms of their corresponding calculated price shall be
referred to as the "Lowest Calculated Bid” PROVIDED THAT IN
RANKING THE BIDS FROM LOWEST TO HIGHEST, THE
BAC SHALL CONSIDER THE QUALITY OF THE GOODS IN
RELATION TO THEIR RESPECTIVE CALCULATED PRICES
AND ASSESS THE SAME BASED ON GUIDELINES TO BE
DETERMINED BY THE GPPB.”

SECTION 4. Section 47 of Republic Act No. 9184 is hereby amended to
read as follows:

“Section 47. Disclosure of Relations. - In addition to the proposed contents
of the Invitation to Bid as mentioned under Section 21 of this Act,
all bidding documents shall be accompanied by a sworn affidavit
of the bidder that he or she or any officer of their corporation is not
related BY CONSANGUINITY OR AFFINITY UP TO THE
THIRD CIVIL DEGREE to the Head of the Procuring Entity, THE
MEMBERS OF THE BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE, AND
THE MEMBERS OF THE TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP
CREATED BY THE BAC, IF ANY. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS
SECTION, COMMON LAW _ RELATIONSHIPS SHALL
LIKEWISE BE INCLUDED IN SUCH DISCLOSURES TO BE
MADE BY THE BIDDER. Failure to comply with the
aforementioned provision shall be a ground for the automatic
disqualification of the bid in consonance with Section 30 of this
Act.”

SECTION 5. Section 47 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as
follows:

“Section 48. Alternative Methods. - Subject to the prior approval of the

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Head of the Procuring Entity or his duly authorized
representative, and whenever justified by the conditions provided
in this Act, the Procuring Entity may, in order to promote
economy and efficiency, resort to any of the following alternative
methods of Procurement, PROVIDED THAT, IN ALL
INSTANCES, THE PROCURING ENTITY SHALL ENSURE
THAT SUCH PROCUREMENT YIELDS THE BEST QUALITY
GOODS AND SERVICES CONSISTENT WITH GPPB
GUIDELINES, AT TERMS MOST ADVANTAGEOUS TO
GOVERNMENT:”

(A) 00x
“(B) xxx
“(C) xx
“(D) 2x

“(B) xxx

SECTION 6. Section 50 of the same Act is hereby amended by the
addition of a new subsection (d), to read as follows:

“Section 50. Direct Contracting. - Direct Contracting may be resorted to
only in any of the following conditions:

(A) Xxx
“(B) xxx

“(C) Those sold by an exclusive dealer or manufacturer, which
does not have sub-dealers selling at lower prices and for

which no suitable substitute can be obtained at more
advantageous terms to the government; AND

“(D) PROCUREMENT OF GOODS AND SERVICES WHICH ARE
SUBJECT TO STANDARDIZED PRICES, FIXED
INDUSTRY PRICES, OR SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE

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(SRP), AS APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE
AND INDUSTRY, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, OR BY
OTHER RELEVANT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES,
PROVIDED THAT THE CONTRACT PRICE OF THE
GOODS AND SERVICES AWARDED THROUGH THIS
METHOD SHALL IN NO CASE BE HIGHER THAN THE
STANDARDIZED PRICES OR THE SRP DETERMINED BY
THE GOVERNMENT.

SECTION 6. Section 53 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as
follows:

“Section 53, Negotiated Procurement. - Negotiated Procurement shall
be allowed only in the following instances:

(A) xxx

“(B) In case of imminent danger to life or property BEFORE,
during, OR AFTER a [state of] calamity, or when time is of
the essence arising from natural or man-made calamities or
other causes where immediate action is necessary to prevent
damage to or loss of life or property, or to restore vital public
services, infrastructure facilities and other public utilities;

a) xxx

b) xxx
SECTION 7. Section 63 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as
follows:

“Section 63. Organization and Functions. - A Government
Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) is hereby established to:

“(A) Protect national interest in all matters affecting public

Procurement, having due regard to the country’s regional
and international obligations;

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“(B) Formulate and amend, whenever necessary, the IRR and the
corresponding standard forms for Procurement;

“(C) ensure that Procuring Entities regularly conduct
Procurement training programs and prepare a Procurement
operations manual for all offices and agencies of
government;

“(D) IDENTIFY GOODS AND SERVICES TO BE SUBJECT
TO DIRECT CONTRACTING UNDER SECTION 53(D);
and

“(E) Conduct an annual review of the effectiveness of this Act
and recommend any amendments thereto, as may be
necessary.”

SECTION 8. Repealing Clause. - All acts, decrees, orders, and
instructions or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act
are repealed and modified accordingly.

SECTION 9. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national
newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

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