The Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management on 15 August announced it has suspended the purchase of non-common use supplies and equipment “until further notice.”
In an advisory, PS-DBM executive director Dennis Santiago said his office will “not accept requests for NCSE procurement until further notice.”
“During the suspension, the PS-DBM shall not accept new requests for Non-CSE procurement until further notice. This will allow us to focus on the fulfillment of our primary mandate, which is to procure CSEs,” Santiago explained.
The official said the PS-DBM will just complete the ongoing non-CSE requests or those that are “already in the pipeline.”
“After that, we will only process CSE procurement,” he noted.
CSEs include items used for day-to-day operations of government agencies such as, but not limited to, pens, papers, staplers, paper clips, folders, and the like.
PS-DBM has again found itself in hot water after the Commission on Audit flagged it for purchasing alleged “outdated and overpriced laptops” for the Department of Education and approving contracts for personal protective equipment despite lacking necessary certification at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.