The House Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has approved a bill that seeks to establish a Green Public Procurement Program for all branches of the government.
House Bill (HB) 1272 , otherwise known as “An Act Establishing A Green Public Procurement Program For All Branches Of Government”, directs all government agencies to consider the environmental repercussions of their procurements–be it with goods, services, works, and utilities–in order to minimize damage wrought to the environment.
This is in compliance with the United Nation's (UN) SDGs. Specifically, SDG number 12 or Responsible Consumption and Production.

The measure was approved by the committee on Tuesday, Nov. 8. CIBAC-Party-list Rep. Eduardo Villanueva, chairman of the SDG panel, presided over the hearing.
Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte, Camarines Sur 5th district Rep. Miguel Villafuerte, Camarines Sur 1st district Rep. Tsuyoshi Horibata, and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Nicolas Enciso authored the measure.
“Through this policy, governments can drive innovation and provide the industry with incentives to develop green products and services. Studies have also shown that green public procurement may provide financial savings for government purchasers considering the full lifecycle costs of a procurement contract...Life-cycle costs may also include the cost of externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions associated with the product,” the authors wrote in their measure.
“As party to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopting a sustainable public procurement legal framework concretizes the country's commitment to the ideals of Sustainable Development Goal No. 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production. This bill mandates all government departments, offices, and agencies to establish their respective Sustainable Procurement Program which shall take into consideration the lowest life-cycle cost of products and services and include a coding system for packaging materials and products to facilitate waste recycling and reuse,” the bill further read.
If enacted, the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) and the Commission on Audit (COA) would be tasked to promulgate and issue the implementing rules and regulations of the bill.