The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it has approved the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System?s (PhilGEPS) proposal to implement new membership types.
Under the proposed plan, registered suppliers will be subjected to additional fees, which will pave the way for additional user features such as electronic bidding and electronic payment.
?The Aquino administration remains committed to improving openness and transparency in governance through our digitization efforts,? DBM Secretary Florencio Abad said.
Abad said PhilGEPS will introduce two new membership types under the approved proposal: the Blue membership and the Platinum membership.
Suppliers with the Blue Membership will be charged P3,000 annually. Under this arrangement, a user can access extra features apart from the existing offerings to non-paying users, such as the ability to download PhilGEPS documents and print their own PhilGEPS registration certificate, as well as one additional contact user for the organization.
Registered merchants using the system have long appealed for this feature to eliminate the need to transact personally at the PhilGEPS office or through snail mail.
Meanwhile, Platinum Members will be charged P5,000 annually and will be able to use other exclusive PhilGEPS features, such as the uploading of eligibility documents and their product catalogue in the system, direct access to a list of consultants, and online bid submissions.
E-payment, which would facilitate electronic and cashless payments for purchases in the virtual store, bid documents, and registration fees, will also be available to them soon.
?By allowing government agencies to conduct all phases of the procurement process online, we can ensure that public spending is more efficient and, at the same time, open to scrutiny. These efforts to further digitize procurement processes, in the spirit of transparency and accountability, would allow us to avert corruption, collusion and other transaction irregularities.?
