Former Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) Director and now Deputy Ombudsman Warren Liong on Wednesday (Sep. 15) asserted that the PS-DBM complied with the COVID-19 response items’ emergency procurement process in accordance with the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Bayanihan 1).
In a House of Representatives Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Liong, a lawyer, pointed out that Bayanihan 1 gives authority to the President to implement an emergency procurement under “extra-ordinary circumstances.”
“Section 4K of Bayanihan 1 states that the President is authorized to [procure] in the most expeditious manner as exemption from RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Law and other relevant laws,” he said.
He emphasized that Section 7 of the law states, “in case of conflict with another statute, order, rules and regulations, the provisions of Bayanihan 1 shall prevail.”
“This means that the legislative department recognized the need to give the President the power to procure in the most expeditious manner given the extra-ordinary circumstances. That is why we procured under Bayanihan Law,” he said.
Liong also said the government-procured personal protective equipment (PPE) and face masks in 2020 were not overpriced because the supply was scarce and prices went up, so that the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) set a price freeze at ₱28.
He said the government procured the masks at ₱27.72.
“Totoo bang mayroong face mask na may halagang ₱13.50 na kayang i-supply ng mga local manufacturers noong Abril 2020? Wala po. Noong April 2020, nagkakahirapan po tayo sa supply,” he added.
In relation to this, Liong said they chose suppliers based on the following criteria: those who can deliver immediately, lowest price based on the quotation of the suppliers who can deliver immediately, and those who are compliant with the technical specifications of the DOH.
He added that the PS-DBM conducted a market survey in identifying the lowest price quotation.
“Hindi naman po si PS-DBM ang nagsasabi kung ano ang bibilhin at ano ang technical specifications, nakalagay po ‘yan sa purchase request ng ating end user,” he said.
Liong also assured that the chosen suppliers were only paid after the delivery, inspection, and receipt of the face masks and PPE sets.
Moreover, Liong and former PS-DBM Officer-in-Charge Christopher Lao clarified that the transferred ₱42 billion from the DOH was not only given to Pharmally Pharmaceutical.
According to Liong, ₱8.8 billion was awarded to the company in 2020 and ₱2.9 billion in 2021, while, in terms of PPE sets, Lao said 33% of the transferred budget was awarded to Sunwest Construction, 20% to Pharmally, and 11% to Hafid and Erasmus and other companies.
Liong insisted that they did not favor any of the supply companies.
“Wala po tayong pinaboran. Noong simula ng pandemya, hirap ang supply dito sa Pilipinas, kaya po we had to go to China directly. Karamihan naman po din ng face masks, kinukuha rin sa China so ‘yun po ang nangyari niyan,” he explained.
Report from NG Seruela, Daniel Manalastas- jlo
