Republic of the Phil
HOUSE OF REPRI

15™ CONGRESS
First Regular Session

38022

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by REP. SALVADOR H. ESCUDERO III

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill basically seeks to address three (3) points in the currently existing
government procurement system embodied in Republic Act No. 9184 in view of the
anomalous contracts such as the ZTE and Cyber-Ed projects favored and concluded by the
government.

+ ___ Firstly, it puts under the coverage of RA No. 9184 the procurement of infrastructure
projects, goods and consulting services funded by loan or credit under the Official
Development Assistance (ODA) Act, RA No. $182, as amended. .

This is in light of the interpretation that the procurement of certain infrastructure
projects, goods and services can be made exempt from the operation of RA No. 9184 on the
basis of Section 4 of said law which mandates the observation of treaties or international or
executive agreements affecting procurement in relation to Section 1 of RA No. 8555 which
on the other hand empowers the President of the Republic to waive the application of any law
in deference to the contracting of a loan or credit with a lending institution.

Secondly, it also proposes to strengthen and advance transparency by mandating the
posting of the decisions of the BAC (or the Bids and Awards Committee) relative to criteria,
ratings and calculations of bids as well as all other bids, responsive or otherwise, on the
procuring agency's website or that of the GPPB (or the Government Procurement Policy
Board). This is envisioned to bolster and reinforce accountability of public officials by
making public how BAC members decide and why. Thus, if there be any anomaly in the
bidding the responsible BAC member/s may be identified.

And thirdly, it lessens the discretion of procuring agen:
consideration of single calculated/rated and responsive bid submi:
observers.

specifically in the
n, and the use of

On the consideration of single calculated/rated and responsive bid submission, a
procuring agency can only do so by, in addition to the current requisites provided for in RA
No.9184, subjecting it to the approval of the GPPB. It is submitted that in this manner the
procuring agency will have the inability to rig biddings through a consensus amongst
competing contractors or bidders in that agency.



And on the use of observers, the invitation of observers is made strict by limiting the
number of times an observer can be invited by a procuring agency. This is being proposed in
consideration of the fact that observers, who become regulars of the BAC become friendly, if
not, even cohorts in anomalous biddings and transactions.

In view of the foregoing and if only to address the problems and iss
resulted from the ZTE and Cyber-Ed projects, passage of this bill is sought.

ies that have

vO Hl
SALVADOR H. ESCUDERO II
Representative
1* District, Sorsogon


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

1s" CONGRESS
First Regular Session

J
HOUSE BILL NO. 3022

Introduced by REP. SALVADOR H. ESCUDERO IIL

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

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

Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9184 is hereby amended to read as

“Section 4. Scope and Application- This Act shall apply to the
Procurement of Infrastructure Projects, Goods 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: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT THE
PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT SHALL BE MADE TO APPLY IN
THE NEGOTIATION OR CONCLUSION OF SUCH TREATY OR
INTERNATIONAL OR EXECUTIVE AGREEMENT.

ACCORDINGLY, NOTWITHSTANDING THE
PROVISIONS OF SECTION 1 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8555, THIS
ACT SHALL LIKEWISE COVER PROCUREMENT OF
INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, GOODS AND CONSULTING
SERVICES FUNDED BY A LOAN, CREDIT OR INDEBTEDNESS
CONTRACTED OR ENTERED INTO BY THE PHILIPPINE
GOVERNMENT. PURSUANT TO THE OFFICIAL



DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE (ODA) ACT OR REPUBLIC ACT
NO. 8182, AS AMENDED.

SI

read as follow:

Section 13 of Republic Act (RA) No. 918:

so hereby amended to

“Section 13. Observers.- To enhance the transparency of the process, the
BAC shall, in all stages of the procurement process, invite, in addition to
the representative of the Commission on Audit, at least two(2) observers to
sit in its proceedings, one(1) from a duly recognized private group in a
sector or discipline relevant to the procurement at hand, and the other from
a non-government organization: Provided, however, That they do not have
any direct or indirect interest in the contract to be bid out, PROVIDED,
FURTHER, THAT IN NO CASE THEY SHALL BE INVITED BY
‘THE BAC MORE THAN THREE (3) TIMES A YEAR. The observers
should be {duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission]
MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING OF THE SECTOR OR
DISCIPLINE OR NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION TO
WHICH THEY BELONG AS DULY CERTIFIED BY THEIR
PRESIDENT, HEAD OR CHAIRPERSON and should meet the criteria

for observers as set forth in the IRR.”

SEC, 3. Section 36 of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184 is likew
read as follows:

¢ hereby amended to

“Section 36. Single Calculate/Rated and Responsive Bid Submission. - A
single calculated/rated and responsive bid shall be considered for award
SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE GPPB AND if it falls under

any of the following circumstances:

a. If after advertisement, only one prospective bidder
submits a Letter of Intent and/or applies for eligibility
check, and meets the eligibility requirements or criteria,
after which it submits a bid, which is found to be responsive

to the bidding requirements;

b. If afier the advertisement, more than one prospective

bidder applies for eligibil

check, but only one bidder


meets the eligibility requirements or criteria, after which in
submits a bid which is found to be responsive to the bidding

requirements; oF

c. If after the eligibility check, more than one bidder meets
the eligibility requirements, but only one bidder submits a
bid, and its bid is found to be responsive to the bidding
requirements.

In all instances, the Procuring Entity shall ensure that the ABC

reflects the most advantageous prevailing price for the government.”

SEC. 4. Republic Act No. 9184 is further amended to include a new Section 36-A to
read as follows:

"Section 36-A. Transparency. The calculated ratings of all bidders, their
bid prices and the ratings given by each member of the BAC as provided
for under RA No. 9184 shall be posted on the agency or the Government
Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) website from the end of evaluation to

sixty (60) days after award of contract.”

All bidders shall include all those who submitted bids regardless of

completeness of requirements and responsiveness.”

SEC. 5. Separability Clause. If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain

valid and subsisting.
SEC. 6, Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders,
proclamations and/or administrative regulations which are inconsistent with the provisions of

this Act are hereby amended, modified, superseded or repealed accordingly.

SEC. 7. Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from its

publication in at least two newspapers of national circulation.

Approved,