Senate Blue Ribbon grills PS-DBM execs over procurement process

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Thursday questioned officials of the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (PS-DBM) over its procurement process after observing discrepancies between documents.

During the hearing on the alleged overpriced laptops procured by the Department of Education (DepEd), senators grilled PS-DBM officials over the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the PS-DBM and DepEd.

Senators pointed out that the MOA, dated February 2021, indicated a 3% service charge while other documents, dated March 2021, indicated 4%.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian presented the minutes of a May 5 meeting in which then PS-DBM Bids and Awards Committee chairperson Ulysses Mora manifested that he would seek clearance from the management to post an invitation to bid pending the approval of the MOA.

In defense, Sharon Bailey of the PS-DBM said that other documents were prepared earlier while the MOA was only approved at a later date.

Mora said that the February MOA was “not yet finalized” at that time.

Former PS-DBM OIC director Jasonmer Uayan, a witness to the signing of the MOA, said it was executed in February but that he tried to convince former PS-DBM  officer-in-charge Lloyd Lao to amend it.

Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel III said it seems that no other employees were informed about the MOA.

“Ang problema. Parang nobody in the PS-DBM was made aware of the MOA. Sharon did not know the 3%, she used the 4%. Ano ‘yung kila Mr. Mora, they still had the cautionary note doon,” Pimentel said.

“Why did this happen? Atty. Uayan, bakit ganito?” he added.

Uayan said the only reason he could think of was that the others did not have a copy of the MOA at that time.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said that the PS-DBM posted an invitation to bid without knowledge of the MOA. Mora said he was only informed that the documents were complete.

“So in other words, sa inyong side, nagpa-bid kayo ng walang legal basis at that time dahil wala pong signed MOA and nag rely lang po kayo sa verbal instruction ni Mr. Amir,” Gatchalian said.

When asked if the PS-DBM could request for a quotation even without a MOA, Bailey said this was the practice of the PS-DBM.

The Commission on Audit (COA) said this was not allowed when it was asked.

“Nakikita ko si COA is umiiling [I’m seeing COA shake his head]. Can you comment on that? Is that a proper procedure?” Gatchalian asked.

“Our actions should be based on the MOA, for sure,” COA said.

COA later said that it was also “not allowed” or “not proper” to execute an invitation to bid without a MOA.

“As I mentioned earlier, it’s not allowed. It’s not proper… not legal,” COA said.

Gatchalian said he suspected the MOA to be antedated.

“My point of the matter here is credibility. I think PS is not only suffering from sloppy work but also credibility. Because you’re now asking for a quotation, you’re now asking for doing price analysis without a legal basis,” Gatchalian said.

“And at the same time, there’s ina-antedate itong dokumentong ito para pumasok doon sa timeframe. It’s a credibility issue,” he added. —NB, GMA News