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The government continues to enhance technologically based processes to improve the procurement chain of government agencies.  The Procurement Service and PhilGEPS, together with its institutional partners, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, conducted a workshop on the planned new features and functionalities that will be implemented for the Philippines’ only centralized government electronic procurement portal. Ayala Systems Technology, Inc., being the developer of the system, was likewise present at the workshop.  The activity was held from December 2 to 4, 2009 at the Days Hotel at Tagaytay City.

Representatives from pilot agencies such as the DepEd, DENR, DOH, DPWH and LWUA were invited to the workshop.  These agencies were the first to be informed of the changes being made in enhancing the present Phil-GEPS System to make it more responsive to the needs of government agencies, suppliers and the general public.

Initially, the present PhilGEPS system was assessed as to its benefits to users, its usability and its perceived strengths and weaknesses.  The existing workflows were discussed by our consultants, Mr. Joseph Fagan from the ADB and Mr. Jay Lowell Payuyo  from the World Bank presented the system’s present and future look and feel.  Vital feedbacks were made and raised during the workshop and the PhilGEPS Secretariat took note of these inputs which will aid the PhilGEPS management and developers of the system in their future enhancement works.  Among the suggested improvement points for the site are the following:

• Faster connection
• Extension of session time out
• Uploading of documents created in MS Office 2007
•  Allowing agencies to add line items during posting of award if the original bid notice posted did not specify lot packages
• Improvement of the search criteria in “My Notices”
• Facilities for agencies to maintain their list of registered suppliers in PhilGEPS
• Reporting facility to aid mother agencies monitor procurement compliance by  associate agencies
• Other comments and critiques involving user interface

Director Rosa Clemente presented the Virtual Store which is currently being developed by ASTI.  The pilot agencies likewise provided their say on the intended enhancements of the system.  They saw the virtual store as a valuable tool to eliminate overpayment, promote transparency in procurement and for other agencies to benefit from bidding results conducted by other government offices.

Phases 3 to 5 of the PhilGEPS System Development which involves enhancing the registry, Electronic Payment, Charges and Fees and Electronic Bid Submission were discussed at length by PhilGEPS’ Mr. Dino Bañaga, Mr. Archie Navarro and Mr. Joe Fagan.  The future of procurement which involves online ordering of goods, electronic bidding, paperless processing of orders and payments stimulated a productive exchange of ideas and suggestions from the agencies.  Among the significant improvements suggested were the following:

• Inclusion of bid form fee in the Instructions to Bidders (ITB) as well as payment form for the Bid Security
• Automatic notification to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) for submission of additional documents
• Automatic notification to losing or post disqualified bidders
• Facility for online submission of motions for reconsiderations (MRs)
• Print-outs for post qualification and evaluation results
• Performance or delivery tracking system
• Inclusion of facility to amend Annual Procurement Plan
• Inclusion of SMS, email or fax facility

The activities were graced with the presence of PS Executive Director Tani Granados and Ms. Cecil Vales of the World Bank who opened the workshop.  Ms. Galia Ismakova of the ADB provided the fitting closing remarks to end the three-day event.

The PhilGEPS had documented all the inputs, comments and recommendations generated by the workshop and had come up with its prioritizing of the changes and have identified concerns which need to be worked on immediately.  Tentative timelines for functional user testing for phase 2 and the development of phases 3-5 have been established.

Ultimately, the goal is to move from paper-based documentation of procurement transactions to a future-oriented flexible environment that makes use of electronic bid boards, purchase orders, electronic catalogues and electronic fund transfers and computer-to-computer communications.   All these efforts are aimed to implement solutions for a government electronic procurement system that allows client agencies and other stakeholders to profit from the benefits of information and communication technologies.  In systematizing all phases and procedures of procurement, public service is envisioned to become even more efficient, manhours spending on administrative procedures will be reduced and economies of scale, transparency and competitiveness are promoted.