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Pimentel believes something structurally wrong with PS-DBM, favors abolition
By GISELLE OMBAY,GMA NewsSenate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said on Sunday that he was inclined to favor the abolition of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) which was involved in the purchase of P2.4 billion worth of allegedly "outdated and pricey" laptops in 2021.
Pimentel said on Super Radyo dzBB that, structurally, PS-DBM was like a hidden department of the DBM, and its head does not go through the confirmation process of the Commission on Appointments (CA).
The senator said that lawmakers should consider its abolition as its budget used for procurement was larger than the budget of other government departments.
“Naisip na namin niyan… meron talagang time na dapat alisin na nga ito dahil nakatago eh, undercover of something na nakahugas ng kamay ang department secretary na, ‘Hindi ko tao ‘yan kahit nasa departamento ko ‘yan,’” Pimentel said.
“Nakatago sa likod [ng DBM] and PS-DBM na ang perang ginagastos sa procurement ay mas malaki pa sa budget ng ibang mga departamento. Something is wrong structurally. Talagang bisitahin na ng mga lawmakers dapat ‘yan at seryosong i-consider na na i-erase na ‘yan, burahin na po ‘yan,” he added.
(We have thought about that... There is a time when PS-DBM should be removed because it is hidden. It is undercover and the department secretary can wash his/her hands of it, saying that they are not my people despite being under my department… PS-DBM is hidden behind the DBM and the money spent on procurement is more than the budget of other departments. Something is wrong structurally. The lawmakers should visit that and seriously consider erasing it, erasing it.)
Pimentel said that there should be a government agency that would publish the researched prices of materials online for the benefit of all agencies that wish to procure through a bidding process or other modes of procurement.
The Senator had earlier filed a resolution seeking a Blue Ribbon Committee investigation
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For his part, House Committee on Basic Education and Culture chair Roman Romulo said the DBM should explain the Procurement Service's importance to the department.
“Dapat ipaliwanag ng DBM ang kahalagahan ng PS-DBM, baka naman pwede na nating mapadali ang bidding natin kung ang ahensiya na mismo ang bibili ng kanilang kailangan,” Romullo said in a separate interview on Super Radyo dzBB.
“Whether we retain or alisin ng executive yung additional agency ng DBM, ang pinakamahalaga po rito ay dinigin natin kung ano ang nangyari… Kailangan tiyakin na hindi na mauulit ito, heads must roll para hindi na ito maulit ang (maanomalyang pagbili ng laptop para sa mga guro),” he added.
(The DBM should explain the importance of PS-DBM. Maybe we can make our bidding easier if the agency itself buys what they need. Whether we retain, or the executive removes the additional agency of DBM, the most important thing here is that we must look into what happened... We must make sure that this does not happen again, heads must roll so that it does not happen again.)
Lawmakers belonging to the Makabayan Bloc in the House of Representatives meanwhile refiled a measure seeking the abolition of the PS-DBM, claiming the agency had been a “breeding ground for graft, corruption, inefficiency, and negligence” in the government.
The PS-DBM was also the subject of a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation after P42 billion in Health Department COVID-19 response funding was transferred to the service.
GMA News Online has sought the DBM and PS-DBM's response to Pimentel's comments, but they had yet to respond as of posting time. — Mel Matthew Doctor/DVM, GMA News