Set to bid on the Improvement of the Ubao-Manaot Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) subproject under the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP), the Municipal Local Government Unit (MLGU) of Aguinaldo, Ifugao underwent a training on World Bank Procurement Guidelines from March 23-24, 2022.

The activity was intended to train the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) and Technical Working Group (TWG) of the MLGU Aguinaldo on the World Bank Procurement Guidelines as harmonized with the Republic Act No. 9184.

Facilitated by the Regional Project Coordination Office-CAR (RPCO-CAR) Procurement Unit, the participants were oriented on the Harmonized Philippine Bidding Documents (Works) 5th Edition checklist requirements, the Bid Evaluation Report (BER) and post qualification process, the roles and responsibilities in the procurement process, PhilGEPS posting for Works, and the common causes of rebidding.

Since it is the first subproject of the MLGU Aguinaldo under the DA-PRDP, DA-CAR RTD for Research and Regulations and RPCO-CAR Procurement Head Atty. Jennilyn M. Dawayan said that the training provided is to ensure their capacity to complete the bidding process, as it is significant to shift from transactional to strategic procurement, showing them the common procurement faults so they get to move to act against it.

“One procurement run is better than doubling it and in the end; the longer it takes to procure, the longer time spent for the project benefits to trickle down to the beneficiaries,” Atty. Dawayan said.

The training activity also included discussions on the Implementation and Management Agreement (IMA), Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) requirements, geotagging tools relative to procurement and contract implementation, and I-BUILD Implementation Process Flow.

As part of the training, the participants also had a hands-on workshop on PBD timeline setting and evaluating bid documents. The workshop outputs were presented by the participants and reviewed by the RPCO-CAR Procurement Unit.

During the training, LGU Aguinaldo BAC Chair Glenn A. Lamag expressed his gratitude to the RPCO-CAR for conducting a training to prepare them in the bidding process.

“There are various amendments to the R.A. 9184 and we really appreciate the conduct of this training and workshop to enhance our knowledge on procurement,” Lamag added.

A similar activity was also conducted for the BAC and TWG of MLGU Kabayan last December 2021 for their road project under the DA-PRDP.| Elvy T. Estacio (RPCO-CAR InfoACE Unit)