How procurement works

The law

Every purchase made with public money, by any national office, government corporation, state university or local government, follows one law: Republic Act 12009, the New Government Procurement Act. It was signed on July 20, 2024 and replaced RA 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2003. Its implementing rules took effect on February 25, 2025.

The old law did not vanish overnight. A purchase first posted before February 25, 2025 still runs under RA 9184 to the end, and offices have until about May 2028 to fully adopt the new rules. Many notices in this workspace, which starts in 2019, were bought under the old law, so its figures appear here beside the new ones.

What changed

• The cheapest bid no longer has to win. An office may also choose the most economically advantageous bid, weighing quality against price.
• Shopping is gone as a mode. Small purchases now use small value procurement or the new direct acquisition, and ceilings were raised.
• Big biddings are recorded on video and their bid openings livestreamed.
• Bidders must disclose their beneficial owners, the people who really own or control them, in a public registry. Lying about it is grounds for blacklisting.
• PhilGEPS becomes the single portal for every stage, from plan to payment, and disclosure follows open-contracting practice.
• New modes: competitive dialogue, unsolicited offers with bid matching, direct acquisition, direct sales, and purchases for science and innovation.

Source: RA 12009 Secs. 3, 20, 82, 115; IRR Secs. 26, 38, 49, 113

Who decides

The Head of the Procuring Entity, a minister, a governor, a mayor, approves each award and hears protests, but may not sit on the committee that picks the winner.

That committee is the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC): 5 or 7 permanent officials who post the invitation, run the conferences, open and judge the bids, and recommend the winner. In a province, city or town its members come from the offices under the mayor or governor, such as the administrator, budget, legal and engineering; in a barangay, from the barangay council. Members serve 1-year terms, at most 3 in a row.

A Secretariat does the paperwork and a Technical Working Group of experts helps with specifications and evaluation. At least 2 observers, one from a business or professional group in the field and one from a registered civil-society group, are invited to every stage alongside an auditor from the Commission on Audit. Observers do not vote, but may see the minutes and bids, and report to the head of the office, PhilGEPS and COA.

Source: IRR Secs. 41–44

Planning and the budget

Buying starts a year early. Each unit lists what it will need in a Project Procurement Management Plan. These are combined into the office’s Annual Procurement Plan, which names each project, how it will be bought, when, from what fund, and for how much. The final plan is posted online and sent to the Government Procurement Policy Board by the end of January. Nothing may be bought that is not in it.

Each project carries an Approved Budget for the Contract. It is a ceiling: a bid above it is disqualified, and there is no floor. Breaking one contract into smaller ones to slip under a threshold, splitting, is prohibited and an offence. Common supplies such as paper and ink must be bought from the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management when it has them.

Source: IRR Secs. 7.7–7.8, 39, 40.1, 60.1

Public bidding, step by step

Competitive bidding is the rule; every other way to buy is an exception that must be justified. Days are calendar days.

1. 01

   Pre-procurement conference

   The committee confirms the project is in the plan, the budget is there, the documents and designs are ready, and how the winner will be chosen. Optional for small contracts: goods up to ₱5,000,000, infrastructure up to ₱10,000,000, consulting up to ₱2,000,000.

   IRR Secs. 49.1–49.2

2. 02

   Invitation to Bid

   Posted for 7 calendar days on PhilGEPS, on the office’s website, and in a conspicuous place at its premises. It states the approved budget for the contract.

   IRR Secs. 50.1–50.3

3. 03

   Pre-bid conference

   Required when the approved budget is ₱3,000,000 or more. Held at least 12 days before bids are due, and not earlier than 7 days after posting. Questions are answered in bid bulletins, also posted on PhilGEPS, at least 7 days before the deadline.

   IRR Secs. 51.1–51.5

4. 04

   Bid submission

   Each bidder hands in two envelopes at once: a technical one, with its eligibility papers and PhilGEPS registration, and a financial one with its price. A late bid is refused. Bidders get at most 45 days for goods, 50 or 65 for infrastructure (above ₱50,000,000), and 75 for consulting.

   IRR Secs. 54.1–54.6

5. 05

   Bid opening

   Right after the deadline, in public. Above ₱10,000,000 for goods, ₱20,000,000 for infrastructure and ₱5,000,000 for consulting, every conference is recorded on video and the opening is livestreamed.

   IRR Secs. 38, 58

6. 06

   Evaluation

   A pass-or-fail check of each bid against the requirements, then a ranking. Any bid above the approved budget is disqualified outright.

   IRR Secs. 59–61

7. 07

   Post-qualification

   The top-ranked bidder is checked in detail: its papers, its record, its capacity. It has 5 days to send documents; the committee has 12 days, which the head of the office may extend to 45 (30 for consulting). If it fails, the next bidder is checked.

   IRR Secs. 63.2, 63.8

8. 08

   Notice of Award

   The committee recommends the winner. The head of the office approves or rejects within 10 days. From bid opening to award may take no more than 60 days.

   IRR Secs. 66–67

9. 09

   Contract and Notice to Proceed

   The winner signs and posts its performance security within 10 days of the award. Work begins with the Notice to Proceed, which the Act requires within 3 days of the contract’s approval.

   IRR Sec. 66.5; Act Sec. 66

When a bidding fails

A bidding fails when no one bids, no bidder is eligible, no bid passes, or the winner walks away. The office revises its terms and bids again. After a second failure it may negotiate directly. A single passing bid may still win.

Source: IRR Secs. 27, 64–65

Other ways to buy

The law lists 11 modes of procurement. Public bidding is one; the others apply only when their conditions are met, and an office may always choose to bid instead. Notices in this workspace tagged “negotiated”, “direct contracting” or “small value” were bought this way.

Source: IRR Secs. 26–37

The amounts that matter

Above the small-value ceiling, an office must bid unless another mode’s conditions apply. Local governments have lower ceilings, set by type and income class. Barangays: ₱100,000.

Source: IRR Sec. 34.2

Then and now

The thresholds that changed between the old law and the new.

Sources: IRR Secs. 34, 38, 49, 51, 67; RA 9184 IRR Secs. 20, 22, 38, Annex H. No Government Procurement Policy Board resolution up to 20-2026 changes these amounts.

Guarantees and penalties

A bidder backs its bid with a bid security: 2% of the budget in cash or a manager’s check, 5% as a bank guarantee or surety bond, or a signed Bid Securing Declaration. A bid without one is disqualified.

The winner then posts a performance security on the contract price: 5% for goods and consulting, 10% for infrastructure, or 30% as a surety bond. Goods carry a warranty, backed by 1% to 5% of each payment held back. Infrastructure carries a 1-year defects liability period after completion.

A late supplier pays liquidated damages of at least 0.1% of the unfinished work for each day of delay, and the office may terminate the contract once they reach 10% of its price. A contractor may subcontract at most 20% of goods and 50% of infrastructure, with approval.

Source: IRR Secs. 7.5, 56, 68, 90, 97

Protests and sanctions

A losing bidder first asks the committee to reconsider, within 3 days; the committee answers within 7. If refused, it may file a protest with the head of the office within 7 days, paying a non-refundable fee. The head decides within 7 days. A protest does not stop the bidding, but must be settled before an award. Only the Supreme Court may halt a procurement by injunction.

For smaller contracts the head’s decision is final: goods up to ₱20,000,000, infrastructure up to ₱50,000,000 and consulting up to ₱10,000,000 for national and regional offices; ₱1,250,000, ₱12,500,000 and ₱2,500,000 for local governments. Above those, the bidder may go to the Regional Trial Court.

Suspension and blacklisting

A supplier that refuses an award, delivers poor goods or falls 15% or more behind schedule can be suspended by the office for 1 year, 2 for a repeat. Collusion, false documents, hidden relationships with officials or false beneficial-ownership information lead to blacklisting from all government purchases, and a third offence to a permanent ban. Officials who leak bids, split contracts or delay without cause face administrative charges, and criminal ones under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Source: RA 12009 Secs. 83–87, 92, 98–105

In the Bangsamoro

The Bangsamoro Government has no procurement law of its own; it follows RA 12009. Its 2026 budget, Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 85, orders every ministry, office and agency to “strictly adhere” to RA 12009 and its rules, and makes PhilGEPS the primary channel for all its procurement, which is why this workspace reads from it. The Bangsamoro Budget System Act (Act 84) ties spending controls to RA 12009 and requires each ministry to keep a transparency seal on its website showing its procurement plans and the contracts it awarded.

The region’s provinces, cities, towns and barangays follow the same national rules, with the local ceilings above. The Commission on Audit is the sole auditor of the regional government and its local governments.

One question is open. The Bangsamoro Administrative Code of 2020 (Act 13) still refers to RA 9184 and sets its own committee terms of 3 years, and appeals that end with the Chief Minister. RA 12009 sets 1-year terms and appeals to the courts. No later act has reconciled the two.

Sources: BAA 85 Sec. 16; BAA 84 Secs. 58, 68; BAA 13 Book VI, Secs. 15–24; RA 11054 Art. XII Sec. 2

Reading this workspace

A bid notice here is an Invitation to Bid or a Request for Quotation posted on PhilGEPS; its approved budget is the ceiling above. An award is the contract that followed, at the winning price. The gap between the two is what bidding saved. Neither is a payment.

PhilGEPS publishes the mode of procurement only for notices that reached an award, or that were posted on its new system since 2024. A notice with a pre-bid conference date was a public bidding, since no other mode holds one. See Sources for what the data can and cannot show.

Sources

Read in October 2026. Where this page and the law differ, the law settles it.

1. Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 12009, Official Gazette, February 10, 2025
2. Republic Act 12009, the New Government Procurement Act (Lawphil)
3. GPPB resolutions and circulars, including Circular 01-2025 on the transition
4. GPPB Public Advisory 09-2026: cite only the Official Gazette IRR
5. 2016 Revised IRR of RA 9184, as of July 19, 2024 (for the older figures)
6. Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 85, the FY 2026 General Appropriations Act, Sec. 16
7. Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 84, the Bangsamoro Budget System Act, Secs. 45, 58 and 68
8. Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 13, the Bangsamoro Administrative Code, Book VI
9. Republic Act 11054, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, Art. XII
10. PhilGEPS open data