Chapter 4
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
The presentation, analysis and interpretation of data are undertaken according to
their sources. In regards to the study, it shall be noted that these vital information come
from the Local Government personnel, National Government representatives and
accredited suppliers. In general terms, the data gathered are analyzed and interpreted
independently before being contrasted with each other thereby coming up perspectives at
different levels which in effect will be relatively essential in designing appropriate
interventions to improve the City’s public procurement system.
Profile of Respondents
Educational Level
From Table 2, it shall be noted that majority of all the respondents at 59.337% or
seventy (70 ) to be exact are college graduates followed by those who got to college but
were not able to finish a course at 17.80% or twenty one (21). On the other hand, a total
of nineteen (19) respondents or 16.10% obtained post graduate courses, either able to
complete the academic requirements or had hurdled the required dissertation or had
earned units thereof. Some are graduates of Midwifery, Medicine, Computer Science
Technician and Vocational courses. Among the respondents, only four (4) or 3.34%
were in the secondary level. Based on these data, it can be surmised that all the
respondents by virtue of their educational background did not find it hard to articulate
their responses to the questions which were given to them for appropriate disposition.
Table 2: Educational level of Respondents
Educational Attainment Frequency % Secondary Level 4 3.34College Level 21 17.80College Graduate 70 59.33Post Graduate 19 16.10Others (Midwifery, Medicine, Computer Science Technician, Vocational) 4 3.34T o t a l 118 100.00
Age Distribution
In terms of age distribution, among the respondents, 34.45% or forty one (41) are in the
31-40 bracket while a total of twenty nine (29) respondents or 24.57% are part of the
51-61 bracket. Moreover, twenty eight (28) respondents at 23.73% belong to the 41-50
age bracket. On the other hand, a total of nineteen (19) respondents or 16.16% belong
to the 21-30 age group while only one (1) or 0.80% is in the 61-above bracket.
Table 3: Age Distribution of Respondents in Years
Age Bracket (Years) Frequency %1 - 30 19 16.16.
31 – 40 41 34.7441 – 50 28 23.7351 – 60 29 24.57
61 – Above 1 00.80T o t a l 118 100.00
Civil Status
In terms of civil status, a great majority of 86.44% or one hundred two (102)
personnel are married while 12.76% or fifteen (15) others are still single. On the other
hand, among the respondents, only one (1) or 0.80% is a widow.
Table 4: Civil Status of Respondents
Civil Status Frequency %Single 15 12.76
Married 102 86.44Widow 1 00.80
T o t a l 118 100.00
Number of Years in the Agency and/or Establishment
In regards to the number of years of respondents in their agencies and
establishments, 34.73% or forty (40) belong to the 5 years-below bracket. Hence,
majority are relatively new, however, since the sets of questionnaires delved into the
procurement process that have a highly comprehensible operational implications, its is
ensured that they were able to articulate their responses.
Moreover, there are a total of twenty five (25) respondents or 21.18.% who had work
experiences ranging from 11-15 years. On the other hand, 18.64% or twenty two .(22)
respondents are those belonging to the 6-10 years bracket. Among them, a total of
thirteen (13) or 11.00% had gained experiences within the range of 21 years- above.
Table 5: Number of years of the respondents in the Agency or Establishment (including years of service in the former municipalities of Samal, Babak and Kaputian for local government personnel)
Number of Years Frequency % 5 – below 40 34.73
6 – 10 22 18.6411 – 15 25 21.1816 – 20 18 15.2521-25 8 6.80
26 – 30 4 3.4031-Above 1 0.80
T o t a l 118 100.00
Characteristics of the Current Procurement System
From the study it was revealed that the procurement system in the Island Garden City of
Samal is characterized by various processes in three (3) phases, as follows:
a. Pre-Procurement Phase
Accomplishment of the Supplies Availability Inquiry (SAI)
This is the first step that has to be undertaken wherein the Requesting Office will have to
make a verification in the Accounting Office as to the availability of supplies or
materials being sought with the appropriate specifications based on the Annual
Procurement Plan. As soon as the Office concerned issues a certification thereof, the
Requesting Office can now prepare the Purchase Request.
Preparation of Purchase Request
After the Supplies Availability Inquiry (SAI) had been accomplished, the
Requesting Office prepares the Purchase Request wherein all the needed supplies or
materials as the case maybe and as stipulated therein with the corresponding estimated
cost .
Approval of Purchase Request
This is the stage where the Purchase Request after having gone through the first three (3)
stages will be approved by the Local Chief Executive (LCE) or City Administrator as
the case maybe.
Preparation of allotment obligation slip (ALOBS)
This is the stage wherein the City Budget Office issues the Allotment and
Obligation Slip (ALOBS) based on the Purchase Request that signifies that funds had
already been allotted for the purpose and that obligation will then be effected.
b. Procurement Phase
Evaluation, acceptance and recording of Purchase Request for transaction
Though already approved, the documents attached to the Purchase Request will still be
subjected to evaluation to determine if compliance to the requirements as set forth for
each type of transaction is already adequate to warrant acceptance for consummation.
These requirements include documents like Program of Work, Program, Project and
Activity Designs, Pre-repair inspections, certifications and other supporting documents
as maybe agreed upon by the all Department Heads. Further, the specifications of the
goods and services being requested for procurement are likewise evaluated. This is
strictly carried out considering that per experience in the past these are oftentimes the
cause of the delay in deliveries since suppliers used to deliver the goods and services
which were not the ones the Requesting Offices wanted due to vague specifications.
After this stage, the subject request may either be returned to the requesting parties in
cases where there are deficiencies or accepted for consummation if these complied with
all the requirements as set forth.
After the evaluation and that the requirements are already adequately complied
with, the Purchase Request will now be accepted and is duly entered into the records of
purchase requests as manifested by its assigned number. Thus, signals the
commencement of the transaction.
Preparation and Serving of Canvass and/or Bid Forms
When the total cost of procurement including the ones being processed is not yet
over P50,000.00 which is the ceiling for fifth (5th), fourth (4th) and (third (3rd) class cities,
a canvass will be undertaken, otherwise, a bidding will be effected. These documents are
signed by the City General Services Officer ,the authorized signatory for cities and then
being served to prospective suppliers. In this connection, there is no limit in terms of the
number of forms for distributions to the suppliers.
Conduct of Canvass and/or Bidding
This is a situation wherein interested suppliers tender their quotations to the
supplies and materials that are subject for procurement. In a canvass mode of
procurement, it only takes the suppliers to reflect their quotation in the prescribed form
upon which they submit it to the City General Services Office or any member of the
Committee of Awards. To some extent, authorized personnel to do the task retrieve the
same. The canvass forms will then be opened with or without the presence of the
participating suppliers. On the other hand, when the mode of procurement is through
public bidding, there is a defined venue and time and where in the presence of the
members of the Committee on Awards, tender of quotations is being opened and still
with or without the presence of the bidders. One distinct feature for this mode of
procurement is that the participating suppliers are required to post a bond equivalent to
5% of their total quotations.
Further, to consider the transaction for consummation, at least three (3) suppliers
for canvass and two (2) for bidding shall have to tender their quotations. Non-
compliance, hereto, renders the proceeding a failure.
Preparation of Abstract of Quotation and Minutes if the Mode of
Procurement is Through Public Bidding
All the quotations tendered by the interested suppliers and/or bidders are properly
documented that constitute the abstract of quotations.
Evaluation and Awarding
The action undertaken here is the assessment of the tendered quotations by the bidders as
well as the accompanying documents attendant thereto. This is to establish who among
them are the lowest complying supplier and/or bidder upon whom will be awarded the
right to supply the goods and services, which are the subject of canvass or bidding.
Approval of the Abstract of Quotations
After evaluating the tender of quotations and awarding the same to the lowest
complying supplier or bidder, the members of the Committee on Awards manifest their
approval thereof by affixing their signatures in the Abstract of Quotations.
Preparation of Purchase Order
This document is accomplished after the winning suppliers or bidders had already been
decided upon by the Committee on Awards. It serves as contract between the City
Government and the concerned suppliers upon which the terms and conditions are
stipulated therein that includes the specifications of the supplies and materials, the
winning quotations and period of delivery and place where its should be made.
Approval of Purchase Order
After being cleared of any impediment, the Purchase Order is then forwarded to the City
Mayor’s Office for his approval or the City Administrator’s Office as the case maybe
being his authorized signatory.
Serving of Purchase Order
As soon as the Purchase Order is approved, the same will be served to the concerned
suppliers of which upon receipt thereof, the countdown for the period of delivery starts
which is seven (7) days under normal conditions where the goods and services are
available in the local markets. Otherwise, the period of delivery may take place beyond
the prescribed number of days, however, the supplier is required to inform the proper
authorities when this condition prevails.
Monitoring of compliance to the period of delivery
This is a process of initiating a countdown as to the period the supplier is
particularly mandated to deliver the goods and services as stipulated in the purchase
order. This may vary from the minimum of seven (7) days upon receipt of the purchase
order or more depending on the arrangements made between the concerned supplier and
the city government.
Delivery of goods and services
This is the stage wherein the supplier delivers the purchased goods and services and is
done within a specified period and in pursuance to whatever specifications had been
stipulated in the Purchase Order.
Inspection and acceptance of goods and services
This is the stage where the Designated Supply Officer (DSO) of the Requesting Office
conducts an inspection on the delivered goods and services that are desired and evaluates
as to compliance to the specifications set forth in the Purchase Order. When found to be
in compliance thereof, acceptance is effected. To manifest that this stage had already
been undertaken the concerned personnel duly accomplish an Inspection Report and
Acceptance Form.
c. Post-Procurement Phase
Preparation of documents required for payments of goods and
services
This is the stage in the process where processing of documents required for payments of
the delivered goods and services are made. An attachment of documents from the initial
step of the process up to the inspection and acceptance stage is required.
Post delivery inspection and evaluation
This takes place after the goods and services are already made use of. The objective
here is to determine whether or not there are problems and issues that cropped up
relative thereof that will serve as basis for future actions in regards to the procurement
process that took place.
Perception of Respondents on the City’s Public Procurement System
a. Level of Responsiveness
The general sentiment of the respondents vary from each other. In this connection, while
the Local Government respondents considered the public procurement system in the City
as responsive, however, from the view of those from the national government agencies,
this is just moderately responsive.
Actually, they differ their observations in the following areas which had been rated as
responsive by the local government respondents and moderately responsive by the
national government agencies representatives while sharing the same perspectives for
the rest of the processes:
Accomplishment of supplies availability inquiry
Preparation of purchase request
Preparation of allotment obligation slip P
Preparation and serving of canvass and bid forms
Preparation of purchase order
Preparation of documents required for payments of goods and services
On the other hand, the suppliers were not quite satisfied to the responsiveness of
some processes. These involved those which were rated only as moderately responsive.
One is on the conduct of canvass or bidding from the time the Purchase Request had
been accepted and recorded for transaction. This is critical considering that after this had
been undertaken, the lowest complying suppliers shall be determined and upon whom
shall be awarded the delivery of desired the goods and services. Of course this shall be
effected after a thorough evaluation which is done as far as the City is concerned on a
separate occasion.
Likewise, from the perspective of the Requesting Office, upon serving of the
canvass or bid forms, this implies that an impending delivery of the goods and services
that had been the subject of request will be effected. With this, any delay will cause
repercussion on the processes because of such expectation.. In effect, this is how this
stage is critical to the entire procurement process and to the Requesting Offices.
Timeliness of Response
For this area of concern, the local government respondents generally rated the
actions taken as timely. Yet, just like the concern on responsiveness, there are matters
worth considering if only to satisfy the demands for their timeliness in initiating actions
thereof. These include the following where the respondents rated as moderately timely in
regards to actions taken by the concerned personnel or officials:
Preparation and serving of canvass and bid forms
Approval of the abstract of quotation
Preparation and serving of Purchase Orders
Monitoring of compliance to period of delivery
Delivery of goods and services
Preparation of documents required for payments
Post delivery inspection and evaluation
On the other hand, among the processes involved, it can be surmised that all those
which are under the pre-procurement phases are considered by the national government
respondents as carried out on time including a few ones under the procurement phase. In
general terms, these are part of the process but do not actually influence the delivery of
the goods and services on time. The overall rating of moderately timely in the action
being undertaken relative to the various processes speaks for it as observed by these
respondents. This observation reflect the weakness of the city procurement process as far
as timeliness is concerned in acquiring various goods and services. In effect, those
processes which were rated as timely carried out by the respondents include the
following:
Accomplishment of Supplies Availability Inquiry (SAI)
Preparation of Purchase Request
Preparation of Allotment Obligation Slip (ALOBS)
Approval of Purchase Request
Preparation and serving of canvass and/or bid forms
Evaluation and awarding
Preparation of Purchase Order
As far as the suppliers are concerned, their general notion for this area of concern
is that the acts undertaken by those involved in the process is moiderately. Actually, for
them only two (2) processes based on their experience, are acted on a timely basis.
These are the approval of the Purchase Order and the inspection and acceptance of the
goods and services being delivered. The rest as they perceived are moderately timely
acted by those concerned.
Actually, the responses of all the foregoing respondents can be best illustrated in
their reactions as to the number of days of actions taken for each transaction as shown in
Table 8.
As can be observed in the said table, the accomplishment of the supplies
availability inquiry form or SAI which is the first stage in the procurement processes,
out of sixty four (64) local respondents, thirty eight (38) or 59.37% remarked that the
task is accomplished on a less than a day basis. On the other hand, twenty six (26) or
41.55% held that it was within the 1-15 days period. Relative hereof, sixteen or 72.72%
of the representatives from the National Government Agencies noticed that its
accomplishment is within the 1-15 days period compared to only six (6) or 27.28% who
observed that the task was finished in less than a day. This situation can be attributed to
the fact that the City Accounting Office is the one accomplishing the Supplies
Availability Inquiry and
given their voluminous work, sometimes it takes their personnel a little longer to
complete the task.
In essence, Table 8 reveals that there were no responses from the suppliers in the
same procurement phase. This is so since they are not in a position to determine its
characteristics for the reason that their concern starts upon receipt of the canvass or bid
forms for this is the stage they offer quotations to the desired goods and services.
Meanwhile, for the preparation of Purchase Request, thirty two (32) or 50.00%
among the Local Government respondents said that it is prepared on a less than a day
basis while thirty (30) or 46.87% cited among others that it is within the 1-15 days
period while two (2) others or 3.13% found it to be beyond fifteen (15) days. This
scenario brings about doubts why it takes that long when these documents are being
prepared by the Requesting Parties themselves. Relative hereof, the reason can be
attributed to the fact that this document is based on the entries of the supplies
availability inquiry form or SAI, hence, it is dependent on the accomplishment of this
document. In this regard, the same observations are being given by the representatives
from the National Government Agencies. From here, it can likewise be observed that the
pattern is the same for the preparation of the Allotment Obligation Slip (ALOBS) and
the approval of the Purchase Request thereof.
In terms of approval of the Purchase Request, it normally takes days because this
document has to be reviewed in reference to the specifications and price levels. In cases
where the Requesting Parties can provide accurate specifications on the goods and
services which are the subject of the request , then there are no issue of delays. For the
Allotment Obligations Slip, it is the considerable workload of those involved in the City
Budget Office that constrained them to act on these documents a few days after receipt
thereof. With this circumstance, it can be observed that no transaction can be realized on
time if it lacks appropriate system and procedures.
Under the procurement phase, particularly on the evaluation and recording for
transaction stage, only nine (9) or 14.06 % remarked that it is acted in less than a day.
But majority at fifty-five (55) or 85.94% noted that it takes time and within the 1-15
days period. Relative hereof, the pattern is more or less similar to the responses of those
from the National Government Agencies and the suppliers.. This is so since although the
Purchase Request is already approved, however, the existing experience reveals that
oftentimes these documents lacks the necessary attachments for its consummation like
the availability of the Annual Procurement Program which should have been submitted
to the City General Services Office for reference prior to the transaction. The price and
specification is likewise reviewed to ensure that the consummation of the said
transaction has no impediments.
Moreover, in the preparation of the canvass or bid forms, normally it takes days
due to the mandated number of days that have to lapse before pushing through with the
transaction. If there are those which are accomplished on a less than a day basis, this
involves canvassing of goods and services with an amount usually less than a thousand
pesos.
Likewise, the conduct of canvass or bidding takes place within the 1-15 days
period. This is for the reason that there should be attained a wider publication as
espoused by existing rules and procedures.
From the preparation of the abstract of quotations up to the post-evaluation stages, it
shall be noted that the trend is the same as observed by the majority of the respondents
where they emphasized that these are undertaken within the 1-15 days period..
Normally, this is how it takes due to the standard operating procedures that have to be
followed.
Yet, what have to be given attention are those that takes place beyond 15 days. In
this regard, although majority of the local respondents observed the 1-15 days mark as
the period of response made for the various procurement processes, however, a
considerable number varying from sixteen (16), seventeen (17), twenty (20) and twenty
one (21) honestly cited that the delivery of goods and services, conduct of inspection
and acceptance thereof, preparation of documents for payments of the deliveries and post
delivery inspection and evaluation in that order, are effected beyond fifteen (15) days.
On the other hand, respondents from the national government agencies identified the
processes like conduct of canvass and bidding from the time the Purchase Request had
been accepted and recorded for transaction, preparation of the abstract of quotations and
minutes if the mode of procurement is bidding and preparation of Purchase Order after
awarding to the lowest complying supplier as those which are acted beyond fifteen (15)
days. For suppliers, however, their interest is more on the preparation of documents
required for payments for the deliveries which they observed to take beyond the 1-15
days which obviously will affect their financial operations.
In its entirety it shall be noted that beyond fifteen (15) days maybe an allusion to a
number of months before the stages in the process as specifically mentioned above are
completed.
Hence, this circumstance is critical for it concerns already the deliveries of goods and
services which will be expected to cause negative repercussion if no appropriate
interventions will be initiated.
Significance of Timeliness to Agency and Establishment Operations
This has reference to the timeliness in the responses of the concerned personnel of
officials to the different procurement processes. In this regard, all the local government
and national agency respondents were one in noting down that
the timeliness of actions taken to all the stages in the procurement process are significant
to their operations. By this premise, the implication is that any lapse that maybe
committed in the process of acquiring the desired goods and services will have an effect
to the operations of the concerned agencies or establishments that may boil down to the
inefficiency in the delivery of services or attending to the need of their clients.
On the other hand, the supplier-respondents likewise affirmed that the same are
significant to their transactions obviously since these involved their financial standing
so that this will have bearing on their track record and in their future business
engagement with the city government.
Adequacy Level of Systems and Mechanisms
In the course of the City Government effort of putting in place its public
procurement processes, it is instituting various systems and mechanisms. Yet, from the
purview of the local government respondents, still these are only moderately adequate
which is also observed by the representatives of national government agencies and the
suppliers themselves.
Although, there are initiatives which merited adequacy from their perspectives, yet,
these involved only a few of these systems and mechanisms. These include the tracking
system to facilitate monitoring of the flow of the procurement documents, policy
measures to preserve the integrity of the procurement processes, skills trainings for those
involved in the procurement processes and values formation for them. On the other
hand, other vital instruments of this area of government operations gained a rating of
lesser magnitude such that those which are only moderately adequate as far as the
respondents are concerned encompass such mechanisms as follows:
Feedbacking among those involved in the procurement process
Systems and procedures to fast track the procurement processes
Measures to maintain timeliness, fair price and quality deliveries
Measures to promote a professionalized relationship between and among the suppliers
and the City Government
Post-procurement mechanisms to cover analysis as to compliance to procedures, price
level, quality and timeliness of deliveries and effects on office operations in the
context of service delivery
Transparency and confidentiality
For the national government respondents, their overall outlook for all these systems and
mechanisms is that these are only moderately adequate. Notwithstanding though, there
are concerns which they believed had been adequately instituted, which are as follows:
Tracking system to facilitate the monitoring of the flow of the procurement
documents
Policy measures to preserve the integrity of the procurement process
Skills trainings for those involved in the procurement process
Values formation for those involved in the procurement process
Measures to promote a professionalized relationship between and among the suppliers
and the City Government
Further, for the supplier-respondents, amid the fact that they shared their observation
with those from the local government and national government agencies that in general
terms the systems and mechanisms are only moderately adequate, however, they differ
in a few areas like the tracking system to facilitate the monitoring of the flow of
procurement documents which they rated as moderately adequate and where the other
respondents deemed as adequate. The same holds true for the values formation among
those involved in the procurement process which they considered as adequate but in the
perspectives of the local government and national government agencies respondents is
only moderately adequate
Effectiveness Level of the Systems and Mechanisms
This refers to the way the systems and mechanisms are being operationalized. In
this context, the observations of all the respondents reveal that generally these are just
moderately effective. The fact is that only a few among the variables are being rated as
effective. For the local government respondents, these include the tracking system to
facilitate the monitoring of the flow of the procurement documents and skills trainings
and values formation for those involved in the procurement process. On the other hand,
representatives of the national government agencies had a similar rating for the same
variables except for those related to skills trainings. As far as the supplier-respondents
are concerned, they appreciated as effective the skills trainings for those involved in the
procurement process, feedbacking mechanism and systems and transparency and
confidentiality.
Significant Difference on the Perceptions of Respondents
Using the t-test tool and as shown in Table 12, it is found out that at a=.05 the
values of .000 each for pre-procurement and procurement phases and at .008 for the
post procurement phase reveal that there is a significant difference in the perception on
the responsiveness in the three (3) phases of the public procurement system in the Island
Garden City of Samal between the local government and national agencies personnel.
Table 12. Significance difference of the respondents’ perceptions on the responsiveness of the
public procurement process in the three phases between local government and national agencies
personnel
Test Value = 3
T Df Sig: (2-
tailed)
Mean Difference
95% Confidence Interval of the
DifferenceLower Upper
Pre-procurementProcurementPost procurement
6.888410.6256.453
858585
.000
.000
.008
.7200
.4071
.4900
.4727
.3278
.2463
.9673
.4863
.7313
SSS
RRR
At a=.05
On the other hand, at a=.05, the value of .000 as illustrated in Table 13, manifests that
there is a significant difference in the perception on the responsiveness of the entire
public procurement system in the Island Garden City of Samal between the Local
Government and National Agencies personnel. In this regard, it follows that, the null
hypothesis is hereby rejected.
Table 13. Significance difference of the respondents’ perceptions on the responsiveness of the entire public procurement process between local government and national agencies personnel
Test Value = 3T Df Sig:
(2-tailed)
Mean Difference
95% Confidence Interval of the
DifferenceLower Upper
City Procurement System
1.958 85 .000 .4858 .4034 .5683 S R
At a=.05 The reason why they differ in their perceptions is the fact that their experiences
attendant to the procurement system in the City likewise vary. For one, the Local
Government employees are already used to the process and over time they are able to
adjust to it. While some still has misgivings on the limitations
of the process but being part of the institution which is carrying out the same, the general
perspective is that it is their own process and they have to live with it. This does not
mean however, that just because it is their system, they want to conceal its inadequacies
before public scrutiny. On the contrary, being an insider so to speak, they are quite
liberal in dealing with these limitations.
On the other hand, the personnel from the National Agencies represent separate
institutions which also have their respective procurement systems. In this regard, based
on their views, it can be safely stated that their process may be better from what they
experienced in the City. They arrived at a different conclusion because their experiences
speak for it.
This perception from the representative of the national government agencies
maybe validated by the other group of respondents, the accredited suppliers who
rendered more or less a similar observation. Having a profit orientation in their dealings
with government institutions in the context of procurement of goods and services, they
are inclined to be critical when their financial status is at stake.