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).
