WALA nang dahilan ang Department of Health (DOH) at Department of Budget and Management (DBM) na hindi bumili ng personal protective equipment sa local industries dahil inaatasan sila na dito kumuha ng supplier na nakatakda sa Bayanihan to Recover as One (Bayanihan 2) upang tulungan ang   micro, small at medium enterprises na nalugmok sanhi ng corona virus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, ayon kay Sen. Sonny Angara.

Sa pahayag, sinabi ni Angara na nakatakda ito sa ilang probisyon sa Bayanihan 2 upang bigyan ng preference ang mga locally-manufactured products tulad ng  personal protective equipment (PPE) na ginagamit ng  health frontliners sa buong bansa.

“In crafting the Bayanihan 2, both the Senate and the House of Representatives made it a point to include Buy Local provisions to give preference to products made in the Philippines. During this critical period, we want to provide as much assistance to our local industries as we could,” ayon kay  Angara,   chairman ng Senate Committee on Finance.

“We only had so much funds to work with and so we included these provisions that would ensure that our local industries would be supported without putting any pressure on government finances,” ayon kay Angara.

Sinabi ni Angara na inaatasan ng batas ang pamahalaan partikular ang DOH na piliin at bumili ng produkto, materyales, at supplies na gawa sa Pilipinas upang matiyak na sapat at nakatutugon ng supply ng kritikal na produkto.

Ayon kay Angara, kabilang dito ang  PPEs, surgical equipment at supplies, laboratory equipment at reagents, medical equipment at devices, alcohol, sanitizers, tissue, hand soap, thermometers, cleaning materials, common medicines, at testing kits.

“The DBM-Procurement Service is directed to award to the lowest domestic manufacturer-bidder even if its bid is 15% in excess of the lowest foreign bid,” giit ni Angara.

“The winning bidder must secure from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) a certification that the articles forming part of its bid are substantially composed of articles, materials or supplies grown, produced or manufactured in the Philippines,” ayon pa sa senador.

Inaatasan din ang DOH, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) at iba pang ahensiya ng pamahalaan na bigyan ng prayoridad at pabilisin ang pagbibigay ng qualification at documentary requirements sa local manufacturers at suppliers.

Inatasan din ng panukala ang Bureau of Internal Revenue na tukuyin ang exemption mula sa bayarin para sa pagmamanupaktura ng mga produktong ito. (ESTONG REYES)