Senator Imee Marcos has filed two bills seeking the abolition of the Philippine International Trade Corporation (PITC) and the Department of Budget and Management- Procurement Service (DBM-PS) due to the “systemic corruption” in the said agencies.
Marcos filed Senate Bill 2388, which aims to address alleged corruption in the DBM-PS.
She said the 1987 Constitution and the Republic Act 9184 or the “Government Procurement Reform Act” has made the mandate of the DBM-PS “archaic and irrelevant in these current times.”
“The DBM-PS has become a fertile breeding ground of graft and corruption and, as such, should be abolished as it has outlived its functions to the National Government,” Marcos said.
In filing the bill, Marcos mentioned that issues hounding the transfer of P42 billion by the Department of Health to the DBM-PS for the procurement of pandemic-related goods.
If the bill was enacted, the respective government agencies as well as the government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC), state universities and colleges, and local government units shall undertake the procurement of their common-use supplies and equipment.
Marcos also filed SB 2389, which seeks to address corruption in the PITC, a GOCC under the Department of Trade and Industry, by abolishing it.
She said PITC’s mandate has become irrelevant, considering the trade liberalization thrust of the global economy.
She added that the passage of RA 9184 has also “weakened” the mandate of the PITC.
In explaining the intent of the bill, Marcos said the PITC was established to facilitate trade with socialist and other centrally planned economy countries.
It was crafted as a mechanism to formalize trade with planned economies through government-to-government procurement.
However, Marcos said only two countries currently remain as centrally planned economies, particularly Cuba and North Korea.
She likewise noted that the Philippines has moved away from this government-to-government trade, citing the passage of RA 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Act as an example.
Like DBM-PS, Marcos said the Philippine International Trade Corporation (PITC) has “dealt with issues” regarding the exercise of its mandate.
As an example, Marcos cited the Commission on Audit’s 2020 annual audit report on PITC which showed that P11.02 billion was transferred from 2014 to 2020 by various agencies that remain unutilized as of December 31, 2020.
She claimed that these transfers were made in order to increase the government agencies’ utilization rate as the transferred funds are considered as obligated and disbursed funds already.
Marcos also mentioned reports claiming that source agencies are using the interest of money transferred to the PITC to general savings to fund bonuses, among others.
“The PITC became a repository for unobligated funds of national government agencies, and as such should be abolished as it has outlived its functions to the National Government,” she said.
It can be recalled that both PITC and DBM-PS were created during the administration of strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr., Imee’s father. — BAP GMA News
Imee Marcos files bills abolishing PITC, DBM-PS
Source: Pinoy Hub News
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