BUDGET Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said the eMarketplace online procurement portal has processed its first vehicle transactions, covering four units which were delivered in two weeks.
In a statement on Wednesday, Ms. Pangandaman announced that the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) Procurement Service witnessed the turnover of vehicles purchased via eMarketplace. The transaction involved four Toyota vehicles.
“Kicking off the first sale under the e-Marketplace, four motor vehicles worth P7.6 million were handed over to the Insurance Commission (IC) at Toyota Otis in Paco, Manila, on Feb. 17,” the DBM said.
IC Supervising Administrative Officer Mark Franklin M. Sanchez said the two-week transaction was much quicker than the four-month wait under the old system.
The following day, the National Tax Research Center took delivery of two motor vehicles valued at P3.3 million.
The DBM said government agencies can now begin ordering motor vehicles under a pilot program for common-use supplies and equipment.
It said more items are being added, including airline tickets, cloud computing services, and various software and licenses.
“We launched it in December, and now, two agencies have already benefited from faster, more efficient, and seamless procurement. ‘Add to cart’ has officially been activated for government procurement,” Ms. Pangandaman said.
The eMarketplace, a feature of the New Government Procurement Act, was signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in July. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante