Two days before his third State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand “Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. signed into law two measures seeking to increase transparency in the government procurement process and to protect Filipinos from online financial fraud. 

In a ceremony at Malacañang on Friday, Marcos signed the enrolled copy of the new Government Procurement Act—the harmonized version of Senate Bill  2593 and House Bill 9648—which shall now be known as the Republic Act No.12009, entitled “An Act Revising Republic Act No. 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act, and for other purposes.” 

The newly signed law seeks to plug the loopholes in the current government procurement system and introduce new modes toward a “more economical and responsive procurement process.”

Marcos also signed the  Anti-Financing Account Scamming Act. The harmonized vote on SB 2560, which shall now be known as Republic Act No. 12010, entitled “An Act Defining and Penalizing Financial Account Scamming and Other Offenses, and providing for the enforcement mechanisms.”

The new law mandates the implementation of robust security and authentication measures to combat financial fraud and financial cybercrimes, including money mule and social engineering schemes.

“We have just signed into law two new bills that will move us closer to attaining a strong, more responsive, and efficient bureaucracy and to establishing safeguards for the financial rights and welfare of every Filipino,” Marcos said in his speech.

Marcos said the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) streamlines the procurement process from three months to just 60 days by standardizing procurement forms and institutionalizing electronic procurement. 

The President cited one of the salient features of NGPA is the provision of 11 new modalities of procurement.

“This will afford greater flexibility for government agencies in choosing how to best acquire goods and services,” he noted. 

Marcos said the NGPA also introduces a new concept such as the “most economically advantageous responsive bid.”

“This is actually an attempt to consider the qualitative, not only the purely quantitative, but the qualitative economic value of any proposal, as an alternative to the prevailing practice of which we now do, of choosing just the cheapest product,  or what we now call the lowest calculated and responsive bid,” he added.

Marcos said the concept would free the government from the obligation of selecting the lowest-priced bid when there is a better alternative available.

“This will ensure that we get not only the best prices but the best deals for our clients, the Filipino people,” 

The President also noted another important feature such as the conduct of strategic procurement planning, mandating more detailed and purposeful planning to increase the success rates of procurement transactions.

“In procurement, we also take into account our environment, the inclusion of sustainable and green public procurement practices in this law demonstrates the country's commitment to addressing the worsening pollution and challenges of climate change,” he said.

Fraud protection

Marcos stressed “another important law” that he signed which primarily aims “to combat the surge in crimes involving scams online” in the country. 

“This new law mandates financial institutions to implement necessary safeguards to protect our citizens' accounts, and this is essential at this time as cybercriminals use technology to defraud fellow Filipinos, causing not only personal economic loss to them but also a loss of trust in financial institutions,” he said.

“The AFASA also defines and penalizes money-mulling activities, social engineering schemes, economic sabotage, and other offenses involving financial accounts,” he added.

Moreover, Marcos said the AFASA authorized the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to investigate and inquire into financial accounts that may be involved in the commission of prohibited acts and to apply for cyber crime warrants for electronic communications used in any violation of the measure.

“I hope that through this law, we can deter the majority of the financial scams that we have been seeing, while at the same time fostering greater trust in our digitization efforts,” he said.

“So at this point, I would like to convey my gratitude to our colleagues in the House of Representatives and in the Senate for passing these two very important laws,” Marcos said, urging the lawmakers to “continue the streak of passing progressive, innovative, and people-centered laws.”

Marcos described the legislators as “partners in improving government and uplifting the lives” of Filipinos.

“I’m confident that we will achieve a more inclusive, just, and resilient society,” he emphasized.