In reiteration of the government's policy that procurement of supplies, materials and equipment shall be done in the most transparent and competitive manner, the President has issued Administrative Order No. 17, on July 28, 2011, directing all National Government Agencies, including military and police units; Government-owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs); Government Financial Institutions (GFIs); State Universities and Colleges (SUCs); and Local Government Units (LGUs) to procure their common-use supplies from the Procurement Service, and use the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) in all their procurement activities, including publishing their all their bid opportunities and posting their awards and contracts.

Salient provisions of the AO are:

Section 4 - Procurement of common-use supplies directly from the PS or its depots without need of public bidding as provided for under Section 53.5 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of R.A. No. 9184;

Section 5 - Mandatory use by procuring entities of the existing functionalities of the PhilGEPS (posting procurement opportunities, notices, awards and contracts); and subscription to other additional features (Virtual Store, E-payment, E-bid submission) as they become available.

Section 6 - Improved Service Delivery on the part of the PS through review of product standards and specifications; expension of product list; expansion of distribution system by encouraging LGUs to establish depots as part of their economic enterprise; improvement of inventory management; and pursue additional PhilGEPS features to enhance transparency and competition in procurement. Copy of AO 17 can be downloaded here >>