President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. highlighted his administration’s anti-corruption program during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
“With the newly enacted Republic Act No. 12009 that I signed just last Saturday, government procurement will be modern and innovative, more streamlined and efficient, and truly at par with global best practices,” President Marcos said during his SONA at the House of Representatives.
“We sincerely thank Congress for its timely and decisive action in amending the twenty-year-old law,” he added.
President Marcos also said that in tandem with the justice system, the Commission on Audit’s (COA) audit mechanism works in harmony with the nation’s transparency, streamlining, and open government initiatives.
All in all, these successfully foster a culture of accountability that curbs corruption in government, the President said.
Last Saturday, President Marcos signed into law two bills aimed at attaining a strong, responsive, and efficient bureaucracy. The two laws also ensure safeguards on the financial rights and welfare of Filipinos.
The new laws are the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) and the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).
In his speech during the ceremonial signing, President Marcos said the NGPA updates the Government Procurement Reform Act or Republic Act No. 1984 and “streamlines the procurement process from three months to just 60 days by standardizing procurement forms and institutionalizing electronic procurement.”
The new procurement law affords greater flexibility for government agencies in choosing the manner of acquiring the best goods and services.
It also introduces a new concept, the “Most Economically Advantageous Responsive Bid,” which considers the qualitative and economic value of a proposal, as an alternative to the prevailing practice of choosing the “Lowest Calculated and Responsive Bid.”
“This frees us from the obligation of selecting the lowest-priced bid when there is a better choice. This will ensure that we get not only the best prices but the best deals for our clients, the Filipino people,” President Marcos stressed.
“Another important feature is the conduct of Strategic Procurement Planning, which mandates more detailed and purposeful planning to increase the success rates of procurement transactions,” the President added.
President Marcos also highlighted the inclusion of sustainable and green public procurement practices in the NGPA, which “demonstrates the country’s commitment to addressing the worsening pollution and challenges of climate change.”
The AFASA, on the other hand, aims to combat the surge of online scamming. It mandates financial institutions to implement necessary safeguards to protect the accounts of Filipinos.
The law also defines and penalizes a type of money laundering called money “muling” activities, including social engineering schemes, economic sabotage, and other offenses involving financial accounts. It also authorizes the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to probe and inquire into financial accounts that may involve prohibited acts.
“This is essential in this time as cybercriminals use technology to defraud fellow Filipinos — causing not only personal economic loss through them but also a loss of trust in financial institutions,” the President said.
“It will protect our people from falling prey to perpetrators who target their banks and e-wallet accounts… I hope that, through this law, we can deter the majority of the financial scams that we have been seeing while at the same time fostering greater trust in our digitization efforts,” he added. PND
