Legal Opinion on Whether the National Printing Office (NPO) Can Conduct Sub-Contract Biddings of Government Accountable Forms

March 12, 2009 BLGF MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 009-09 TO : All BLGF Officials and Employees, Regional Directors for Local Government Finance, District Treasurers of Metropolitan Manila; Provincial, City and Municipal Treasurers and Others Concerned SUBJECT : Legal Opinion on Whether the National Printing Office (NPO) Can Conduct Sub-Contract Biddings of Government Accountable Forms Attached for the information and guidance of all concerned, is the letter of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs, Office of the President, dated February 20, 2009, on the above subject matter in response to the issue that when the National Printing Office (NPO) could not meet the printing requirement of various government offices, it insists on bidding out the printing jobs to its "accredited" private printers instead of returning the orders to the requisitioning office. The said legal opinion specifically stated that "the extant laws that govern the NPO are specific and unequivocal in its jurisdiction", citing the following : a) Section 6 of Executive Order No. 286 dated July 5, 1987 "Abolishing the General Services Administration and Transferring its Functions to Appropriate Government Agencies", which created the NPO and provides the latter's jurisdiction in the printing, binding and distribution of all standard and accountable forms of national, provincial, city and municipal governments, including government corporations. b) Memorandum Order No. 38 issued on November 19, 1989, entitled "Prescribing Guidelines in Contracting the Services of Accredited Private Security Printers for the Printing of Accountable Forms with Money Value and Other Specialized Accountable Forms," which provides among others, that: All requisitions for the printing of accountable forms with money value and those which are specially designed for the agency's requirement shall be submitted to the NPO. The NPO shall fill in the requisition and perform the printing job. If it cannot undertake the job because of incapacity, the NPO shall immediately conduct a public bidding to be participated in by the NPO-accredited security printers only and the printing job shall be awarded to the lowest complying bidder. AEIHaS The Opinion likewise cited that as advances in technology made printing services a highly competitive service area with great outsourcing potential, and to ensure that government benefits from the best services available from the market at the best price, Executive Order No. 378 dated October 25, 2004 entitled "AMENDING SECTION 6 OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 285 DATED 25 JULY 1987 BY REMOVING THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE NATIONAL PRINTING OFFICE (NPO) OVER THE PRINTING SERVICES REQUIREMENTS OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND INSTRUMENTALITIES," was issued, the pertinent provisions among which are as follows: SIAEHC "Section 1. The NPO shall continue to provide printing services to government agencies and instrumentalities as mandated by law. However, it shall no longer enjoy exclusive jurisdiction over the printing services requirements of the government over standard and accountable forms. It shall have to compete with the private sector, except in the printing of election paraphernalia which could be shared with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, upon the discretion of the Commission on Elections consistent with the provisions of the Election Code of 1967. (Emphasis supplied) "Section 2. Government agencies/instrumentalities may source printing services outside NPO provided that: SEC. 2.1 The printing services to be provided by the private sector is superior in quality and at a lower cost than what is offered by the NPO; SEC. 2.2 The private printing provider is flexible in terms of meeting the target completion time of the government agency. (Emphasis supplied)" To date, Executive Order No. 378 is the sole prevailing law that governs the matter of requisitioning and printing of accountable forms with money value and other specialized accountable forms by the concerned offices/agencies subject to public bidding in accordance with Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Act) and to pertinent accounting and auditing rules and regulations. In view of the foregoing, the NPO no longer has exclusive jurisdiction over the printing service requirement of the government over standard and accountable forms (Sec. 1, E.O. No. 378) and it has to compete with the private sector, except in the printing of election paraphernalia which could be shared with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Sec. 1, E.O. No. 378). The Regional Directors of this Bureau are hereby instructed to disseminate the contents of this Circular to all Provincial, City and Municipal Treasurers within their respective jurisdiction, likewise enjoining them to observe and comply with the provisions thereof. HCEcaT Be guided accordingly. (SGD.) MA. PRESENTACION R. MONTESA Executive Director ATTACHMENT Office of the President of the Philippines Malacaang LEGAL OFFICE February 24, 2009 MR. EDUARDO DEL ROSARIO Director II, Regional Director IV-A Bureau of Local Government Finance 8/F EPDC Bldg., Central Bank Complex Manila RE: Legal Opinion on whether the National Printing Office (NPO) Can Conduct Sub-Contract Biddings of Government Accountable Forms Dear Director del Rosario : This refers to your request for legal opinion on whether the National Printing Office (NPO) can conduct sub-contract bidding of government accountable forms. EAIcCS You state in your letter that when the NPO could not meet the printing requirement of various government offices, it insists on bidding out the printing jobs to its "accredited" private printers instead of returning the orders to the requisitioning office. The extant laws that govern the NPO are specific and unequivocal on its jurisdiction. Section 6 of Executive Order No. 285 dated July 25, 1987 entitled: "ABOLISHING THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION AND TRANSFERRING ITS FUNCTIONS TO APPROPRIATE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES", created the NPO and provides the latter's exclusive jurisdiction, to wit: TECIHD "Section 6. Creation of the National Printing Office. There is hereby created a National Printing Office out of the merger of the Government Printing Office and the relevant printing units of the Philippine Information Agency. The Office shall have exclusive printing jurisdiction over the following: a. Printing, binding and distribution of all standard and accountable forms of national, provincial, city and municipal governments, including government corporations; b. Printing of official ballots; c. Printing of public documents such as the Official Gazette, General Appropriations Act, Philippine Reports, and development information materials of the Philippine Information Agency. xxx xxx xxx" In order to effectively monitor and safeguard the quality and integrity of accountable forms with money value and other specialized accountable forms for the requisitioning office or agency as provided for under Executive Order 285 dated July 25, 1987, Memorandum Order No. 38, entitled: "PRESCRIBING GUIDELINES IN CONTRACTING THE SERVICES OF ACCREDITED PRIVATE SECURITY PRINTERS FOR THE PRINTING OF ACCOUNTABLE FORMS WITH MONEY VALUE AND OTHER SPECIALIZED ACCOUNTABLE FORMS," was issued on November 19, 1998, to wit: 1. All requisitions for the printing of accountable forms with money value and those which are specially designed for the agency's requirement shall be submitted to the NPO. 2. The NPO shall fill in the requisition and perform the printing job. If it cannot undertake the job because of incapacity, the NPO shall immediately conduct a public bidding to be participated in by the NPO-accredited security printers only and the printing job shall be awarded to the lowest complying bidder. 3. The printing of the requested forms shall be done under the strict control and supervision of the NPO and in the presence of its representative together with the representatives from the Commission on Audit and from the requisitioning agency. cHAIES 4. The NPO shall be the sole distributor of all the forms printed by the accredited security printers which will be paid by the NPO for the service they have rendered. 5. All flats, cuts and types used for the specific printing job shall be surrendered to the requisitioning office or agency after the completion of the printing job. As advances in technology has made printing services a highly competitive service area with great outsourcing potential, and to ensure that government benefits from the best services available from the market at the best price, Executive Order No. 378 dated October 25, 2004 was issued entitled: "AMENDING SECTION 6 OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 285 DATED 25 JULY 1987 BY REMOVING THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE NATIONAL PRINTING OFFICE (NPO) OVER THE PRINTING SERVICES REQUIREMENTS OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND INSTRUMENTALITIES." The pertinent provisions are hereby reproduced: SEC. 1. The NPO shall continue to provide printing services to government agencies and instrumentalities as mandated by law. However, it shall no longer enjoy exclusive jurisdiction over the printing services requirements of the government over standard and accountable forms. It shall have to compete with the private sector, except in the printing of election paraphernalia which could be shared with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, upon the discretion of the Commission on Elections consistent with the provisions of the Election Code of 1987. (Emphasis supplied) EcDSHT SEC. 2. Government agencies/instrumentalities may source printing services outside NPO provided that: SEC. 2.1 The printing services to be provided by the private sector is superior in quality and at a lower cost than what is offered by the NPO; SEC. 2.2 The private printing provider is flexible in terms of meeting the target completion time of the government agency. (Emphasis supplied) SEC. 3. In the exercise of its functions, the amount to be appropriated for the programs, projects and activities of the NPO in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) shall be limited to its income without additional financial support from the government. CEcaTH SEC. 4. The Director General of the Philippine Information Agency shall prepare guidelines/safeguards to be adopted by government agencies and instrumentalities in tapping private providers in the printing of accountable and standard forms, in case the NPO could not match the price, quality, and timeliness of delivery by private providers. SEC. 5. All executive orders, issuance, orders, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby revoked, amended or modified accordingly. [Emphasis supplied] aTEACS To-date, no law nor Presidential Issuance has been issued on the matter; i.e., Executive Order No. 378 dated October 25, 2004 is the sole prevailing law that governs the matter of requisitioning and printing of accountable forms with money value and other specialized accountable forms by the concerned offices/agencies subject to public bidding in accordance with Republic Act No. 9184, known as the "Government Procurement Act" and to pertinent accounting and auditing rules and regulations. Anything inconsistent and/or incongruent to the provisions of Executive Order No. 378 dated October 25, 2004 has no basis in law. Clearly, the NPO no longer has exclusive jurisdiction over the printing service requirement of the government over standard and accountable forms (Sec. 1, E.O. 378). In fact, it has to compete with the private sector, except in the printing of election paraphernalia which could be shared with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Sec. 1, E.O. 378). The only qualification to this is the assurance of guidelines/safeguards to be adopted by government agencies that shall be prepared by the Director-General of the Philippine Information Agency (Sec. 4, E.O. 378). Accordingly, the NPO cannot insist on sub-contract bidding of accountable forms without running against Executive Order No. 378. aAHSEC Please be guided accordingly. Very truly yours, (SGD.) MANUEL B. GAITE Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs