BACOLOD City – The city government here is set to restart the procurement process for school supplies intended for public elementary school learners following changes mandated under the newly revised government procurement law.
The distribution of free school supplies and bags is a long-standing program of the city under City Ordinance No. 09-16-787, which mandates the annual provision of educational materials to public school children. Traditionally, the city allots P15 million for the initiative.
However, this year, the city government has increased the budget to P29 million, aiming to benefit no fewer than 72,000 primary school students across the city.
Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s Committee on Education, said the Local School Board (LSB) met on July 9 to discuss the new procurement procedures. The Department of Education (DepEd)–Bacolod was directed to prepare a new purchase request in compliance with the updated procurement guidelines.
Espino explained that the previous procurement documents prepared under the administration of former Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez are no longer valid under the newly enacted Republic Act (RA) 12009, also known as the New Government Procurement Act, which revises RA 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act). The new law aims to modernize and streamline the government procurement process.
“Since the new Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) was installed just this Tuesday, we have to go back to square one in terms of procurement,” Espino said.
He added that the city government is targeting to begin distribution of the school supplies by mid to late August.
The delay in distribution, the city councilor clarified, is primarily due to the transition to the new procurement system under RA 12009./PN
