For transparency: SBMA to conduct projects bidding online

As the Internet, and even social media, take on greater role in the delivery of government services during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) announced that it will henceforth conduct public bidding for big-ticket projects online.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said on Friday that the agency’s various Bids and Awards Committees (BAC’s) had decided that all future bidding processes will be conducted via online platforms and will be broadcast live through social media.

“Going online ensures transparency, efficiency, and safety,” Eisma stressed.

“The bidding process becomes faster, more transparent and credible, and at the same time it keeps participants secure from the Covid-19 virus,” she added.

For this purpose, the SBMA had recently created the Facebook page “SBMA Procurement Service”, which will be managed by the various BAC’s, Eisma said.

According to Atty. Michael Quintos, SBMA Deputy Administrator for Legal Affairs, the move to conduct bidding online is in accordance with Administrative Order 34, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte just last week, on  October 23.

While the AO requires all government offices to conduct online bidding of big infrastructure projects, the SBMA went one step further and decided to use social media platforms to go live during biddings for public viewing, Quintos said.

He also pointed out that in pre-pandemic times, and for projects worth P50 million and above, the SBMA Bids and Awards Committee already opened bids in the presence of observers from the Commission on Audit and disinterested non-government organizations to ensure transparency.

Eisma also noted that even before AO 34, the SBMA was already posting pre-bid announcements on the SBMA website and other online platforms on top of the required publication in newspapers of the invitation to bid.

“But putting the actual proceedings available for public viewing via social media would be one huge stride in SBMA’s efforts toward greater transparency. This will further strengthen the system,” Eisma added.

The SBMA chief also said that as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed practically the whole world to utilize Internet applications for business, the SBMA has been stepping up its adoption of new systems that would address new requirements and changing protocols.

She also noted that the agency has already established an online system of processing transactions with locators, suppliers, and other business entities a couple of years ago.

Among the online transactions that the SBMA has established are services provided for port users, electronic billing and payment, filing for regulatory requirements, and lately online job application and medical consultations. (MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:

Facebook page of SBMA Procurement Service

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Subic BoC to implement ‘zero contact’ policy by Nov. 5

The Bureau of Customs will soon implement a “zero contact” policy in business transactions at the Port of Subic under the Enhanced Goods Declaration Verification System, or 1-Assessment System, which is designed to curtail corruption in processing cargoes and thus increase revenue collection for the government.

This was bared by Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Ian Dy of the Management and Information Technology Group of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) during a dialogue with business locators, brokers and representatives of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) here.

The 1-Assessment project will start here on November 5, with Subic as one of the pilot ports in the country, while the program will be fully implemented nationwide starting the first week of January 2019, Dy added.

Under the new system, the broker or the shipper will be prohibited from visiting or talking to the BoC examiner or appraiser or any personnel of the BoC while the documents of the cargo are still being processed. Otherwise, a stiff penalty will be imposed upon the violating party, Dy added.

Meanwhile, brokers and BoC officials should only communicate through the 1-Assessment portal where all their messages regarding a particular cargo can be read by the BoC Commissioner or his authorized officers.

Dy explained that 1-Assessment is a web-based queue management software/application that provides bias-free assessment by randomly assigning appraisers and examiners to goods entering the Port of Subic from foreign countries.

Among the main objectives of the 1-Assessment program is to prevent corruption by institutionalizing the “Zero Contact Policy” in transacting business with the BoC. This is designed to suppress the “suki system” in the cargo clearance process with the random assignment of examiners and appraisers to a given goods declaration.

Dy stressed that the good news about 1-Assessment is the transparency in the processing of goods declaration using a first-in-first-out basis, where the assignment of examiners or appraisers is done automatically by computers without human intervention, except by the Assessment Chief in case the assigned examiner or appraiser reached is not yet available.

SBMA Deputy Administrator for Ports Marketing Ronnie Yambao welcomed the implementation of the new system, saying it will enhance the agency’s thrust to make business in Subic transparent and efficient.

“The 1-Assessment is a program of the national government that supports the vision of SBMA to provide efficient services to all of Subic locators, especially port users,” Yambao said during the forum.

He added that the implementation of 1-Assessment program will help prevent corrupt practices and attract more shippers to transfer to Subic port.

“This is a one-time big-time opportunity to change the culture and custom inside the BoC,” Dy concluded his presentation.

He said that BoC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña’s marching order for all BoC personnel was to eradicate corruption in the Bureau. (MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:

Some of the piers and wharves at the Port of Subic 

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