Senators strongly criticized and even called Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda a liar during the Senate plenary debates on the agency’s proposed budget for next year.
The issue stemmed from questions raised by Senate Deputy Majority Leader Risa Hontiveros regarding the bidding process for the government’s Bayanihan SIM Project.
Hontiveros questioned why the DICT used the implementing rules of the old Government Procurement Reform Act (Republic Act No. 9184) instead of the newly enacted Republic Act No. 12009 or the New Government Procurement Act.
She pointed out that this was clearly stated in Aguda’s letter to the President last July, where the old law—not the new one—was cited.
According to Hontiveros, the new law imposes stricter requirements for direct contracting, including mandatory market scoping.
The DICT explained that the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the new procurement law were supposedly not yet issued at the time, prompting them to rely on the old statute.
However, Hontiveros’ research showed that the IRR for the New Government Procurement Act had already been released as early as February.
DICT countered that while the IRR was released, it was only published in June and that the forms needed for the bidding process became effective only in September.
Hontiveros was not satisfied with the explanation.
“Their interpretation is wrong. Wala naman po sa pagsasabatas na pagkatapos mailabas natin ang batas, pagkatapos ma-issue ng executive ang IRRs, kailangan may tamang forms pa para lang sundin ang batas. And again, with all due respect, Mr. Chair, therefore their answer to my question earlier was simply dishonest. The IRRs of the new law had been promulgated five months earlier before they wrote the letter,” Hontiveros said.
Senator Win Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, agreed with her and requested the DICT to submit a position paper on the issue.
Hontiveros stressed that while the project has good intentions, all procedures must strictly adhere to the law.
A total of ₱3 billion was allocated for the Bayanihan SIM Project, which aims to provide SIM cards to students and teachers in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas to help improve their internet access.
The DICT targets the distribution of 600,000 SIM cards this year and more than a million next year. Although the agency initially proposed direct contracting with telecom companies, the process eventually shifted to competitive bidding to procure the SIM cards for the target areas.