MANILA - Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Tuesday rejected anew calls for the abolishment of the Procurement Service under her agency, citing its importance in the acquisition process of government agencies.

• Imee Marcos moves to abolish PS-DBM, PITC created during dad's presidency

Pangandaman said PS-DBM will have a "huge role" especially in procuring common-use supplies under the proposed procurement law amendments.

Relatively small agencies can directly buy their supplies from the DBM unit, without undergoing the tedious processes of procurement, she said.

"Usually naman 'yung mga maliliit na ahensya, 'yung mga binibili niyan ay mga common-use eh. So kung available 'yan sa PS-DBM, ang ating central procurement agency... puwede na silang bumili diretso doon," the budget chief told Palace reporters.

• Scrapping PS-DBM up to Congress, says budget chief

The PS-DBM has been linked to the P2.4 billion purchase of allegedly overpriced laptops for teachers last year.

In 2021, it was also linked to the anomalous transactions with transactions with Pharmally Pharmaceuticals.

• COA to look into Pharmally-gov't deals in special audit

Some lawmakers, such as the Makabayan bloc, have criticized the PS-DBM and filed House Bill 3270 which seeks to abolish the department.

The PS-DBM was created on October 18, 1978 "to establish an integrated procurement system for the national government to take advantage of economies-of-scale in procurement," read Senate Bill 2388, filed by Sen. Imee Marcos.

The agency was tasked to buy items used in the daily operations of the bureaucracy - such as pens, papers and toiletries for public buildings - as the government can procure these items at a lower price when bought in bulk.

The PS-DBM also has a trading function as it resells the items it procured to other government agencies. The PS-DBM charges a 4 percent service fee for procurements it carries out in behalf of other agencies.

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Video from PTV