NAMFREL

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NAMFREL holds training on government procurement monitoring

from NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.2, No.7

As part of its involvement in advocating good governance, NAMFREL facilitated a training on GPRA 9184, or the Procurement Law, on April 8-9, 2011 at the New Horizon Hotel, Mandaluyong City. The training was held to equip volunteer observers with the skill set to monitor procurement activities, Department of Health (DOH) Retained Hospitals and Centers for Health Development (CHDs) all over the Philippines.

Dr. Irene Fariñas of the DOHNCPAM (National Center for Pharmaceutical Access and Management) delivered a presentation on the projects that the department is currently undertaking to make medicines more accessible to the general public. This made the participants realize the value of NAMFREL’s involvement in the procurement activities of various DOH agencies. The presentations delivered by Mr. Apolinar Dichoso of the Bishop’s-Businessmen’s Conference (BBC) were to make the participants aware of the salient features of the Procurement Law and to point out the areas where intervention of the observers will help ensure that the procurement proceedings are transparent. Mr. Mr. Edgar Camenting of NAMFREL presented the items and important details to look out for during the procurement activities..

The training was initiated upon the request of NAMFREL Pangasinan since they are in partnership with various organizations in Northern Luzon that support good governance, of which observing the conduct of procurement in different agencies in the region, including the Region I Medical Center, is an important component. They felt the need to make themselves more familiar with the different aspects of public procurement so that they can be more effective in monitoring these bidding activities. The event was also attended by representatives from Pampanga for the monitoring of procurement activities in Center for Health Development Region III, and from
Misamis Oriental to more effectively monitor the procurement activities in Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) and Center for Health Development for Northern Mindanao.

In the two days of sessions that also served as trainers’ training seminar, the participants committed to conduct trainings in their respective areas for potential volunteer observers who will be assisting them in covering all the procurement activities in the hospital/ agencies that they are in partnership with.

Participants shared some of their experiences in the field. Mr. Nestor Banuag, a volunteer observer from Misamis Oriental who monitors procurement of goods and services in CHD-DOH Region 10 and in Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro, reported that the BACs (bids and awards committees) in both agencies welcome the presence of NAMFREL observers, providing opportunities to share inputs during procurement activities and giving copies of pertinent documents related to bidding. He cited the open communication between the BAC secretariats and NAMFREL observers on concerns related to the bidding process. This was echoed by Mr. Emmanuel Sakay, a long-time NAMFREL volunteer, who observes procurement activities in Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center in Marikina City, citing transparency in the conduct of their activities.

However, participants also noted that observers are not consistently being invited in all activities throughout the procurement process. In some cases, invitations to observe procurement activities are sent late by procuring agencies (sometimes on the day itself) that observing said activities become impossible due to scheduling conflicts.

Through the years, procuring entities under the DepEd (Department of Education) and DOH have become more open to observers from NAMFREL and other civil society organizations (CSOs), both at the national and local levels. There was resistance at first, but perhaps they have started to recognize that CSO involvement in procurement activities help achieve transparency, credibility, and efficiency of the process, improve their ranking in performance surveys for government agencies, and make them more effective in the delivery of services to the general public. It is NAMFREL's hope that all other government agencies would be open to civil society participation, to help promote transparency and accountability in the public sector, to encourage trust from the citizens.

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