Journalists to sit as observers in AFP bidding

To ensure transparency in the bidding of military supplies, members of the media have been invited to sit as observers in the deliberations of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC). A memorandum of agreement forged by the Department of National Defense-BAC with the Coalition Against Corruption was recently amended to expand representation to committee proceedings to include members of the media. Aside from representatives from the Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development and the Makati Business Club, three members of the Defense Press Corps will sit as observers in the BAC deliberations. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa said this is part of the reform being implemented by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to shield the institution from corruption and institutionalize the much-needed improvement and transformation of the military.
“We know that we really need to make some improvements and reforms and we’re doing that. I have talked to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and asked him to line up actual and detailed reforms that we’re trying to institute now," Ochoa said in a press statement Wednesday. The military is currently embroiled in a corruption controversy where millions of pesos worth of payoffs allegedly went to the hands of former comptrollers and chiefs of staff. “My only appeal is for people not to drag everybody in the AFP or the entire institution into any of these (controversies)," Ochoa said. He further said that when Gazmin took office in July 2010, steps to tighten budget spending, process of procuring supplies and equipment, and internal controls were implemented. These efforts are intended to ensure that transactions are transparent and that the AFP coffers will be safe from abuse and misuse, Ochoa said. Ochoa said the administration has designated special disbursement officers (SDOs) whose task is to attend to the financial requirements of the DND agencies and AFP units through the cash advance system. He said the administration also has strengthened the internal control systems in all agencies and units under the AFP and DND by conducting a pre-audit on all procurement activities. Ochoa said the process eliminates ghost deliveries of goods and services and complements the post-audit operations to be performed by resident COA auditors assigned to all procuring units of the AFP and DND. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News