The government will soon use a green criteria in its procurement process to promote sustainable practices and comply with the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) after the House of Representatives on Monday, Dec. 12, passed on the third and final reading House Bill (HB) No. 6468 or the “Green Public Procurement Act.”
With 232 House members voting to pass the bill, the lawmakers sought “to promote the culture of making green, sustainable, and informed decisions in government, especially in government procurement.”
“The measure seeks to make the government assume the leading role in the promotion of sustainable practices by incorporating environmental, economic, and social factors in its decisions and processes, particularly in the matter of procurement,” a statement from House Speaker Martin Romualdez said.
The bill’s authors noted that the country is a party to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and remains committed to achieving the 17 SDGs by 2030.
Several items in the SDGs refer to sustainable environment. These are clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, and climate action.
HB 6468 was authored by Reps. Manuel Jose Dalipe, Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr., Miguel Luis Villafuerte, Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata, Nicolas Enciso VIII, Eduardo Villanueva, Jose Manuel Alba, Charisse Anne Hernandez, Jose Alvarez, Gabriel Bordado Jr., France Castro, Anna Victoria Veloso-Tuazon, Maria Angela Garcia, Christian Tell Yap, Julienne Baronda, Stephen James Tan, Ramon Nolasco Jr., Jose Teves Jr., Rosanna Vergara, Faustino Michael Carlos Dy III, and Raoul Manuel.
Under the bill, all the branches of government including constitutional commissions, state colleges and universities,government-owned and controlled corporations, government financial institutions, and local government units are required to “implement a Green Public Procurement (GPP) program to achieve sustainable consumption and production in government procurement.”
The bill requires that the GPP program be made in accordance with the GPP Roadmap established by the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB), consistent with the Government Procurement Reform Act or R.A. 9184.
The program aims not only to promote green-based decisions in government procurement, but will also require the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PHILGEPS) to identify all government agencies procuring common-use supplies and equipment (CSE) and non-common use supplies and equipment (non-CSE) identified by GPPB as part of the Green Procurement Roadmap.
It would also “promote the preferential use of green criteria in government procurement whenever possible and practicable and ask relevant government agencies to develop technical specifications for CSE and non-CSE products.
“The measure mandates the GPPB to protect the national interest in all matters affecting public procurement, giving due regard to the country’s regional and international obligations and to ensure the incorporation of the concept of sustainability in the procurement activities of the government, among others,” Romualdez’s statement said.
“It is likewise given the task to develop incentive schemes to increase motivation and catalyze action for better performance and environmental stewardship and to establish standard monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to measure the compliance of procuring entities to the criteria,” it added.
Under the law, government agencies would be required to submit their respective GPP Programs to the GPPB, which will be tasked to submit an annual report to the Committee on Sustainable Development Goals of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation and Futures Thinking of the Senate on the compliance of the different agencies with the provisions the law.
The GPPB “has the duty to regularly implement capacity building and information, education, and communication programs to develop capacities and enhance awareness and understanding of the implementation of the GPP Program.”