History of Procurement in General

 

Reforms for government procurement began more than a century ago when the United States Philippine commission introduced the American practice of public bidding through act no. 22 passed on October 15, 1900. Several more laws and Executive Orders relating to procurement were subsequently passed.

But the biggest legal shake up of the procurement process began on October 8, 2001 when President Arroyo issued Executive Order 40 which consolidated procurement rules and procedures for all national government agencies. It was followed two years later in January 2003 by Republic Act 9184 otherwise known as “The Government Procurement Reform Act” which sought to codify all pertinent laws and rules governing government procurement.

Challenges in AFP Procurement

Just like other government offices, the AFP faces the same challenges in procurement. Public perception on government procurement is characterized by fraud, inefficiency and lack of transparency. During this time, the country’s economic climate has prompted many government agencies to review their present system and look for ways to increase efficiency. In the AFP, these necessitated reforms in the way things are done in order to achieve its procurement objectives. A major step was the creation and establishment of the very first procurement unit of AFP in 2005 – the AFP PROCUREMENT SERVICE.

The Birth of AFP Procurement

This can be traced with the passing into law of Republic Act 9184 otherwise known as the government procurement reform act, and its implementing rules and regulations. The birth of AFP Procurement Service on 16 April 2005 as per General Order NR 402 GHQ, AFP, was as a result of the dissolution of the former AFP Logistics Center on 01 April 2005.

Under DND Department Order NR 12 dated 05 April 2006, AFPPS was categorized as an AFP-wide support separate unit under the functional supervision of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, J4.

The people who rolled up their sleeves during the birth of AFPPS conducted the ardous work of leading AFP procurement to establish their internal and external processes and procedures in order to achieve its mandates which was influenced by both internal and external forces such as interactions between various elements, professionalism, staffing levels, budget resources, organizational structure, procurement regulations, rules, guidance and internal policies.