Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

When I assumed office as Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary in July 2022, my first marching order to the Procurement Service-DBM (PS-DBM) was to restore trust. The agency faced scrutiny in Congress. I asked that we be given a chance to clean it up.

Thus, under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s (PBBM's) directive and steady support, the agency underwent comprehensive internal reforms. The initiatives included process clean-ups, interoperability through PhilGEPS, and mandatory beneficial ownership (BO) disclosures to prevent corruption and conflicts of interest. Transparency, after all, is the antidote to corruption.

You see, before the enactment of the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA), there was a lack of a comprehensive, mandatory requirement for disclosing who has ultimate and effective control over companies participating in government agency and instrumentality procurement opportunities. Additionally, there was no clear procedure on how corporations intending to participate in government procurement will disclose their respective BO information during the tendering stage, and information on any sanctions to be imposed against them if bidder-corporations fail to disclose their BO information.

Under the NGPA, all bidders wanting to apply for a PhilGEPS Certificate of Membership (Platinum Registration), which is the only document needed to submit a bid, must provide a current General Information Sheet and a BO declaration form to PS-DBM, as they submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). With PS-DBM's commitment to maintaining a registry of BO information through its PhilGEPS and sharing requested information to Procuring Entities, Civil Society Organizations, other stakeholders, and the public, it signed a Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) with the SEC, which commenced immediately after the signing on March 14, 2025.

Further, the SEC announced the launch of the Hierarchical and Applicable Relations and Beneficial Ownership Registry (HARBOR), a centralized and digital BO registry scheduled to be implemented sometime in January 2026. Once HARBOR is fully implemented, the PS-SEC DSA will allow the real-time verification of BO information, a requirement to maintain the validity of the bidder’s PhilGEPS Certificate of Membership by the Procuring Entities themselves by checking the PhilGEPS website.

Penalties of non-disclosure and false entries on the Beneficial Ownership Information include the automatic disqualification for failure to disclose beneficial owners, and blacklisting for the submission of false beneficial ownership information. Section 105 of the NGPA specifies that the administrative penalty of blacklisting also applies to any beneficial owner of the blacklisted entity.

BO transparency ensures that government funds, mainly sourced from Filipino taxpayers, are properly tracked, accounted for, and protected from misuse by any person who dominantly influences the management or policies of a company that has been awarded public contracts. BO disclosure helps prevent influential individuals from winning government contracts unfairly, manipulating bidding processes, or concealing conflicts of interest by revealing who truly controls these entities, allowing regulatory agencies, procuring entities, and the public to scrutinize relationships and ensure that no undue influence or hidden interest is at play during the entire procurement process.

With the institutionalization of the BO and other major initiatives, I am excited to share that PS-DBM emerged as the overall winner in the Anti-Corruption Thematic Category and the Asia and the Pacific Regional Category at the Open Government Challenge during the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit 2025 held last Oct. 9 in Spain. This affirms the agency’s success in restoring integrity and trust in public procurement. I felt a mix of honor and humility as the DBM Secretary and Philippine-OGP (PH-OGP) chairperson, for our country was among the most recognized for advancing transparency, accountability, and citizen participation through sweeping open government and digital reform initiatives.

If you may recall, among the OGP key initiatives of the PBBM administration are the institutionalization of the Philippine Open Government Partnership through Executive Order No. 31; the passage of the New Government Procurement Act, considered the country’s biggest anti-corruption measure to date; and the full digitalization of public financial management systems for real-time, data-driven transparency.

The DBM has also launched major digital transformation projects, including the Integrated Financial Management Information System, the Philippine e-Marketplace, blockchain-based document verification, and the revival of Project DIME, which uses geotagging and satellite imaging to monitor government projects and enhance public oversight.

These initiatives concretize PBBM's vision of a Bagong Pilipinas built on transparency, accountability, and innovation. From day one, the President has directed us to make government more open and efficient, ensuring every peso spent truly benefits the people.

Beyond budget, requiring the Declaration of Beneficial ownership is a crucial step and a commitment to strengthening the integrity of government procurement. By disclosing BO information, funds intended for essential services are protected from inefficiency, fraud, and corruption. This ensures that Filipinos receive greater value for their hard-earned money, particularly the taxes they pay.

We are still at the beginning, but rest assured that the PBBM administration is determined to build on these initiatives to create a stronger, more open, and inclusive Bagong Pilipinas. I hope that you will support us in this journey.