Beneficial ownership: A transformative transparency initiative

Requiring the Declaration of Beneficial ownership is a crucial step and a commitment to strengthening the integrity of government procurement. By disclosing BO information, funds intended for essential services are protected from inefficiency, fraud, and corruption.

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Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. When I assumed office as Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary in July 2022, my first marching order to the Procurement Service-DBM (PS-DBM) was to restore trust. The agency faced scrutiny in Congress. I asked that we be given a chance to clean it up.

Thus, under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s (PBBM's) directive and steady support, the agency underwent comprehensive internal reforms. The initiatives included process cleanups, interoperability through PhilGEPS, and mandatory beneficial ownership (BO) disclosures to prevent corruption and conflicts of interest. Transparency, after all, is the antidote to corruption.

Beneficial ownership

You see, before the enactment of the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA), there was a lack of a comprehensive, mandatory requirement for disclosing who has ultimate and effective control over companies participating in government agency and instrumentality procurement opportunities. Additionally, there was no clear procedure on how corporations intending to participate in government procurement will disclose their respective BO information during the tendering stage, and information on any sanctions to be imposed against them if bidder-corporations fail to disclose their BO information.