Name: OLIVER P.

CORPUZ
Course: MPA
Subject: PUBLIC FISCAL ADMINISTRATION

FISCAL ADMINISTRATION REFORMS

The government has prided itself in pursuing reforms that promote the operational efficiency of government
agencies.To name such, we have these two public expenditure management reforms: 1) Procurement Law
(RA 9184) and; 2) Organizational Performance Indicator Framework (OPIF).

RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act

Under the law, public procurement includes all “acquisition of Goods, Consulting Services, and the
contracting for Infrastructure Projects by any branch, department, office, agency, or instrumentality of the
government” including procurement for projects that are wholly or partly funded by Foreign Loans or Grants
pursuant to a Treaty or International or Executive Agreement unless different procurement procedures and
guidelines are expressly stated or if the foreign loan and grant is classified as Official Development Assistance
(ODA) under RA 8182 or the Official Development Assistance Act.

From this definition alone, we can see that almost all government spending falls under public procurement
and, thus, it is logical to assume that whenever the government spends, public procurement data should be
produced.

Aside from the definition of public procurement, the law also provides, as a general rule, that all procurement
shall undergo Competitive Bidding except for specific cases when Alternative Methods of Procurement such
as Limited Source Bidding, Direct Contracting, Repeat Order, Shopping, and Negotiated Procurement are
allowed. These specific cases are subject to the prior approval of the Head of the Procuring Entity (HOPE)
and should be justified by the conditions provided by the Act.

Organizational Performance Indicator Framework (OPIF)

The Organizational Performance Indicator Framework (OPIF) is a results-based management approach being
mainstreamed by the Government of the Philippines (GOP) as one of the pillars of its public expenditure
management (PEM) reforms. Through OPIF and other reforms, the PEM seeks to change the orientation of
expenditure management from focusing on rules and processes to focusing on three key objectives or
outcomes:
• Fiscal discipline – living within the means or resources available to the government;
• Allocative efficiency – spending money on the right things or right priorities; and
• Operational efficiency – obtaining the best value for the money or resources available.

Under the PEM system, the budget is an instrument for allocating public resources within the available fiscal
space and ensuring that priority is given to expenditures that are effectively oriented toward achieving
development results—the outputs, outcomes, or impacts of a development intervention. In applying OPIF to
the budget process, the government seeks to improve its results focus, specifically to:
• attain national development and sector outcomes (allocative efficiency) during budget preparation and
execution;
• capacitate departments/agencies to get the most value for money in the way they provide goods and services
to the public (operational efficiency); and
• use available resources for priority expenditures (fiscal discipline).

OPIF therefore encourages policymakers to focus on strategic national and sector priorities in allocating
scarce budgetary resources. It makes government managers accountable for the strategies they develop and the
outputs they are expected to deliver in pursuit of these priorities. OPIF also increases government employees’
understanding of how their individual outputs count toward achieving national outcomes. All these lead to
building a performance-oriented culture in the public sector.