Procurement reform bill to integrate sustainable, green practices
The new Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA) will soon integrate
sustainable and green public procurement practices aimed at minimizing negative
environmental impacts, promoting social responsibility, and supporting
long-term economic sustainability.
The bill, which has been passed in the House of Representatives on third and
final reading, shall establish sustainable and green public procurement as one
of the notable amendments to the decades-old Republic Act No. 9184.
This is also in line with the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos
Jr.’s thrust to promote climate resiliency and green economy as building blocks
of progressive, livable, and sustainable communities.
"Because sustainability is one of
my advocacies and a commitment of this Administration, we will adopt a Green
Public Procurement Strategy to procure goods, infrastructure projects, and
consulting services with reduced environmental impact throughout their life
cycle. We will also integrate green practices and environmentally relevant
criteria in the procurement design of a project," DBM Secretary
Mina F. Pangandaman said.
Green Public Procurement is a process whereby public authorities seek to
procure goods, services, and works with a reduced environmental impact
throughout their life cycle.
This strategy has been provided in the proposed measure, which states that
government procurement “shall
integrate green practices, as well as environmentally relevant criteria or
requirements, in the design of their procurement projects in order to achieve
broader policy objectives on energy, water, and material efficiency, waste
reduction, pollution and emission prevention, climate change mitigation, local
and rural development, greening supply chains, greening infrastructure and
work, industry productivity, innovation and competitiveness, inclusive business
models, green jobs, and circular economy.”
Meanwhile, sustainable public procurement “shall be used by procuring entities in goods, infrastructure, and
consulting services to achieve value for money on a whole life basis not only
to meet their specific needs but for the benefit of the society and the
economy, while reducing adverse environmental impact.”
The new GPRA also seeks to develop a green local market to attract green investments
and improve the competition in government procurement.
Moreover, towards the promotion of certified sustainable products, a list of
sustainable goods shall be published and updated regularly in the Philippine
Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS). (DBM/PIA-Caraga)
