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An update
on NAMFREL's participation in the Medicine Monitoring Project
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from
NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.2, No.27 |
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NAMFREL-MMP (Medicine Monitoring Project)
continues to implement monitoring in areas where the local chapters
are also performing voluntary work to promote good governance.
Currently, monitoring is limited only to public bidding. Outside
Metro Manila, 14 hospitals and CHDs (Centers for Health Development)
are currently being monitored: 7 in Luzon, 2 in the Visayas, and 4
in Mindanao.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), NAMFREL secretariat
continuously sends observers to monitor the public bidding
activities in various hospitals and CHDs to ensure that the Bids and
Awards Committees (BACs) are performing their duties pursuant to the
Government Procurement Reform Act 9184. NAMFREL secretariat’s
monitoring at the moment is limited to procurement activities. 14
hospitals and CHDs in Metro Manila are currently being monitored.
From January 2012 to October 2012, NAMFREL monitored a total of PhP
2.7 billion worth of various pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical
products including infrastructure projects, janitorial and security
services. NAMFREL volunteer-observers testified that BAC employs a
non-discretionary pass/fail criterion to determine eligible bidders.
The bidding process complies with the provisions of the procurement
law to make the bidding process fair and transparent.
The DOH through its Integrity Development Committee (IDC) has
responded proactively to NAMFREL’s findings and recommendations to
counter corruption practices within the agency. For instance, in
2006 when NAMFREL reported an unadvertised procurement worth PhP 11
million at Margosatubig Regional Hospital (MRH) in Zamboanga del
Sur, the DOH-IDC issued an order to the Chief of Hospital to declare
bidding failure due to disregarding Section 21 of the GPRA 9184. In
the same year, NAMFREL reported that there were members of the HBACs
who were not trained on the procurement law. These prompted the DOH
to conduct a nationwide training on the provisions of the GPRA 9184
making the HBAC members more competent in handling fair and
transparent procurement process.
After the MMP2, NAMFREL made recommendations to the DOH-IDC, based
on reports made by
volunteer observers:
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Reiterate the need for the presence of observers in all
stages of the procurement process, including the
pre-procurement and post-qualification, apart from the
pre-bid conference and opening of bids. |
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Advise the BAC and the
Supply/Pharmacy Officer to furnish NAMFREL with copies of
the
same procurement-related documents that they forwarded to
the COA. |
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Advise the Procuring Entity of
both RH and CHDs to publish their Annual Procurement Plan
(APP) in their respective website for public reference and
transparency. |
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Advise the Supply Officer to
provide NAMFREL with the schedule of delivery specifically
for pharmaceutical products. |
Since the MMP was implemented, NAMFREL noted that the bidding
process and transactions in the
health agency became more transparent. The following were the
observations made by volunteer
observers:
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HBACs are now more open and
receptive to the participation of NAMFREL observers in all
of the public bidding activities conducted by the hospitals;
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Prices offered by the
bidders/suppliers during the bidding are actually
competitive; |
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Pharmaceutical products are
more accessible now at the hospital level as compared to the
past. |
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Pharmaceutical products were
actually delivered and received on time by the hospitals in
accordance to the awards and specifications. |
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Under the watch of observers
during post- delivery monitoring, pharmaceutical products
were delivered promptly to hospitals and CHDs, as stipulated
in the contracts awarded to the suppliers. |
In the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) corruption perception
survey, two of the three government agencies NAMFREL currently
monitors are placed in the top three institutions of government seen
as least corrupt, namely the Department of Health (DOH) and
Department of Education (DepEd). |
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