Fighting corruption with the new procurement law

Time after time, the Philippines has been haunted by billions-worth of procurement scandals---from the botched NBN-ZTE deal in the 2000s, to the multi-billion pork barrel scam in the 2010s, to the Pharmally scandal during the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020s.
 
Corruption remains to be one of the biggest problems in the country. The 2023 Corruption Perception Index shows Philippines at the lower end of the spectrum among Asia-Pacific countries, while the June 2024 Pulse Asia survey shows that fighting graft and corruption is the fifth most urgent national concern for Filipinos.
 
Given this context and with the Marcos Jr. government’s proposed national budget of P6.35 trillion next year, the recent passage of the New Government Procurement Act, dubbed as the “biggest anti-graft and corruption law” in our modern history, is significantly timely.
 
Republic Act 12009 or the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) hopes to significantly improve the execution of government projects through key reforms. One of these is the creation of a new award criterion, the Most Economically Advantageous Responsive Bid (MEARB), in the procurement process, in addition to the existing Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB).

The MEARB frees implementing agencies from the requirement of only selecting the lowest-priced bid and gives procuring entities the chance to also prioritize the qualitative and economic values of the project and bids.
 
The NGPA also mandates that all procurement should be conducted with sufficient planning and preparation to ensure sound procurement decisions. Studies show that 50% of the causes of delays and failures of procurement are due to poor cost estimates, problems on technical specifications or terms of reference, and end-user’s late submission of Purchase Request.

Conducting strategic procurement planning ensures the efficient and effective management of government spending, and, as a result, on-time delivery of government services to the Filipino people.
 
But the most important key reform in the NGPA, I believe, is enhancing transparency and accountability in the procurement process.

The new measure aims to do this through open government and