Identifying ‘procurement’ as one of the key reform areas that needs to have an improvement as revealed in the provincial government reform roadmap, the Project Development and Management Unit (PDMU) of DILG XII conducted an Orientation on RA 9184 and its 2016 Revised IRR, Effective Procurement Planning and COA Auditing Rules at Viajera Hotel, City of Koronadal last August 12-16, 2019.
The said orientation primarily aims to capacitate provincial local government units in generating and effectively implementing their procurement plan and to enhance the participants’ knowledge of RA 9184 and its 2016 Revised IRR, as well as COA Rules and regulations on the procurement process.
Ms. Marilou Dones-Reyes and Mr. Edmund Talle, both private consultants for procurement, served as the resource persons for the orientation. The speakers emphasized that the procurement process is essential in ensuring that quality services to the end users and as such, it must reflect and be responsive to their needs.
Twenty (20) participants joined the said orientation and workshop and almost all of them had a lot of issues to resolve. Among the concerns and questions raised were related to the matters about the consanguinity of the members of the BAC and the supplier which was explained thoroughly by Mr. Edmund Talle. Others needed clarifications on the right procurement process and in the correct format to adopt for the preparation of the Project Procurement Management Plan. In the course of the seminar, it was found out that other provinces used a different format rather than the one prescribed in the PPMP. Ms. Reyes, made the necessary corrections in making the right and accurate description on the PPMP especially when requesting for supplies.
The participants were then tasked to prepare their own Project Procurement Management Plan and the facilitators made sure that all the needed details were provided and properly encoded. After each of the presentations, other attendees were given the chance to make comments or observations on the sample work that the other groups have worked on. Once again, corrections were done right away to ascertain the accuracy of the plan. According to Mr. Talle, a project ‘procurement management plan has to be done properly as it primarily deals with the planning and procurement of project requirements’.
At the end of the workshop, the participants who were interviewed said they were ‘more confident now’. as far as the preparation of the said documents in concerned. Similarly, Ms. Reyes, one of the resource persons, expressed appreciation for the number of participants who showed up for the training and she added that she is “thankful for being a part of the DILG’s efforts in capacitating LGUs in terms of the procurement process.”
For his part Mr. Talle wished that the participants might be able to put into correct practice all the lectures that transpired during the orientation workshop on RA 9184.
RD Josephine Cabrido-Leysa of DILG XII said that the ‘importance of preparing documents properly and correctly can save time and would greatly benefit the LGUs who comply.’ She added that there is ‘no excuse for not knowing what to do anymore’ because of the DILGs drive to equip and capacitate local governments
