House outlines ‘green’ procurement plan for gov’t
THE House of Representatives has taken action on another “eco-friendly” measure requiring all government offices to adopt responsible and sustainable consumption and production practices in support of global efforts to achieve “circular” economies, according to Camarines Sur Representative and National Unity Party (NUP) president LRay Villafuerte.
Villafuerte said the House Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) recently approved a measure – House Bill (HB) No. 1272 introduced by him and three more CamSur solons that seek to task the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) to craft with the Commission on Audit (COA) the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for a “green” public procurement (GPP) program.
“This proposed GPP program is anchored on tasking all offices in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to give priority to the purchase or acquisition of ecologically friendlier goods and services,” said Villafuerte, who authored HB 1272 with Camarines Sur Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata, and Bicol Saro Rep. Nicolas Enciso VIII.
Villafuerte explained that “this policy, which has gained traction abroad under the concepts of ‘sustainable procurement,’ ‘green public procurement’ or ‘green purchasing,’ requires public offices or agencies to meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in such a way that benefits society and the economy while minimizing damage to the environment.”
As approved recently by the SDG committee chaired by CIBAC Rep. Eduardo Villanueva, HB 1272 or “An Act Establishing a GPP Program For All Branches Of Government,” mandates, said Villafuerte, “all government departments, offices and agencies to establish their respective SPPs (Sustainable Procurement Programs) that puts a premium on finding the lowest life-cycle cost of products and services and including a coding system for packaging products that makes possible waste recycling and reuse.”
He is also a principal author of Republic Act (RA) 11898, which lapsed into law last July 30, mandating companies to observe sustainable or eco-friendly practices in their plastic packaging, with the goal to upgrading the recycling or reuse of discarded plastic containers and packaging materials in pursuit of a circular economy or the “green” model of production and consumption.
Villafuerte said that a 13-member panel, to be named the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), will see to it that big producers, along with their distributors and retailers, are responsible for the proper disposal of their waste products after their goods have been sold to and used by consumers.
RA 11898, or the “Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act,” amended RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, “to reduce waste generation and improve the recyclability or reusability of such wastes as plastic containers or packaging materials,” Villafuerte said.
As for HB 1272, Villafuerte said that because the Philippines is a party to the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 19th Congress’ adoption of an SPP legal framework “concretizes our country’s commitment to the ideals of the UN’s 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), specifically SDG 12 on Sustainable Consumption and Production.”
Villafuerte said he and his three fellow Bicolano lawmakers introduced the committee-approved HB 1272 “not only in support of the UN SDGs but also of the long-term vision under our government’s ‘AmBisyon Natin 2040’ for the State to implement programs geared towards responsible and sustainable consumption and production with the end view of having a fully circular economy.”
HB 1272 requires the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PHILGEPS) to identify all government agencies procuring consumable supplies and equipment (CSE) and non-consumable supplies and equipment (non-CSE) identified by GPPB as part of the Green Procurement Roadmap.
