Senator Francis Tolentino is pushing the approval of a bill that would prohibit officers-in-charge of agencies from signing and entering into long-term and huge contracts in behalf of the government.
Tolentino filed Senate Bill No. 2434 as a one of the remedial measure to issues that cropped up in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's investigation on the government's controversial purchase of medical supplies, which stemmed from the Commission on Audit's (COA) report on the Department of Health's (DOH) utilization of funds for COVID-19 response for 2020.
It was Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, appointed as OIC of the Department of Budget and Management's Procurement Service (DBM-PS) in January, 2020, who awarded multi-billion pesos’ worth of contracts to suppliers for the DOH at the height of the pandemic, before resigning in June of the same year.
Senators particularly questioned the more than P8.6 billion in contracts awarded to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, a newly-registered company with less financial capability. They hit the alleged overpricing of items delivered by Pharmally to the government.
“Since OICs are only designated to ensure that the day-to-day operations of the office will not be hampered, and they lack the authority to exercise discretionary powers, it is incumbent upon the appointing authority to fill the position with permanent appointments as soon as possible,” Tolentino said in the bill, a copy of which was sent to media on Wednesday, October 13.
SB No. 2434 proposes to amend the provisions of Executive Order No. 292 or the Administrative Code of 1987 and expressly define and limit the powers and functions that an OIC may exercise.
Under the bill, OICs shall serve for a maximum of six months, while the President shall be mandated to fill the position with permanent appointment within the period.
The OIC "shall not be deemed to possess powers involving the exercise of discretion to enter into any long-term and/or high-value contracts or agreements", the bill read.
"Such contracts and/or agreements shall be deemed void ab initio and the OIC can be held administratively and criminally liable," it added.
Tolentino said he aims to prevent temporary appointees from holding the position for a long period of time to ensure efficiency in government operations.