MANILA — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Saturday said it is preparing to launch an app where government agencies can simply “add to cart” common use items — such as office supplies — they need to procure.

The app will make it easier for procuring entities to check if an item is in stock, how much it is and how soon they can get it, DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman told reporters.

“Ibig sabihin parang Shopee at Lazada, add to cart na lang tayo,” she said.

“Makikita mo din diyan kung kailan ang delivery and puwede rin ang pick up,” she said.

The DBM is “already finalizing the back end and the front end” of the app called “eMarketplace,” Pangandaman said, noting that they hope to launch the service “in two months.”

Despite the development of this app, some bids and awards committees (BACs) would still be retained for big ticket projects, Pangandaman said.

“Itong malalaking products like Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), they will still have their own bids and awards committee, but now yung process it will be shortened, it will be streamlined,” she said.

“It will be more transparent. The use of technology, lahat ng bidding process natin, everything can be online,” she said. “There is citizen’s participation in the law so the civil society can participate as observers in the process."

The adjustments were made after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law the New Government Procurement Act, which seeks to shorten procurement transactions to 60 days.

Pangandaman admitted the updates to the Philippines’ procurement law is a response to the systematic loopholes exposed during the pandemic.

Last year, the Office of the Ombudsman recommended filing graft charges against three former officials of the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) over their involvement in a controversial COVID-19 test kits contract with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.

The Ombudsman also ordered the dismissal of several DBM officials from government service after investigations showed that the government lost some P4.165-billion in funds from the procurement of overprices items such as face masks and test kits.