Palace affirms NPO jurisdiction in printing government documents

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang has clarified the jurisdiction of the National Printing Office (NPO) in the printing of government forms and documents.

It issued Memorandum Circular No. 180 consolidating all laws and issuances related to the functions of the NPO as well as the procedures in the printing of the government forms and documents “to efficiently and effectively accomplish the delivery of public services.”

While the printing of ballots and other accountable election forms remains exclusively with the NPO and/or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, MC 180 states that the NPO may authorize the Commission on Elections to contract the services of private printers in the event that it cannot meet requirements of the poll body.

As far as the printing of accountable forms with money value and specialized accountable forms, the NPO will continue to have exclusive jurisdiction over the printing.

MC 180 states that in case the NPO is incapable of undertaking the job within 30 days from submission, it can conduct a public bidding to be participated in only by NPO-accredited security printers.

Earlier, private printers had complained of alleged rigged biddings conducted by the NPO for job orders of government agencies.

Among allegations raised against the NPO was that there were no notices of public bidding and only pre-selected and invited private printers were able to participate in the bidding.

The provision of MC 180 on the participation of NPO-accredited security printers was included to address this issue.

The sub-contracting of the NPO of its printing functions was contained in Executive Order No. 378 issued on Oct. 25, 2004, which took away the exclusive jurisdiction of the NPO over the printing service requirements of government offices and instrumentalities.

Legal opinion

Last February, then deputy executive secretary for legal affairs Manuel Gaite issued a legal opinion declaring that the NPO should no longer conduct such “sub-contract” public biddings of multi-million- peso printing contracts.

Gaite said EO 378 was issued to ensure that the government “benefits from the best services available from the market at the best price.”

“Clearly, the NPO no longer has exclusive jurisdiction over the printing service requirements of the government over standard and accountable forms. 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,” said Gaite, who was recently appointed as commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The legal opinion was sought by the Department of Finance’s Bureau of Local Government Finance, which has complained of delays in the delivery of vital forms such as official receipts by the NPO’s contracted private printers.

For the other standard and accountable forms used by government agencies and offices, MC 180 clarifies that the concerned agencies may secure their printing services outside of the NPO provided that “the printing services by the private sector is superior in quality and at a lower cost than that offered by the NPO” and “the private printing provider is flexible in terms of meeting the target completion time of the government agency.”

The government agencies concerned must adhere to the guidelines and safeguards prescribed by the director general of the Philippine Information Agency in the event that they tap the services of private printers.

The NPO retains the exclusive jurisdiction over the printing of public documents such as official gazette, General Appropriations Act and Philippine reports.

The NPO has been plagued by allegations of corruption and mismanagement, which has resulted in the filing of charges against its officials and several changes in its leadership.

Last March, the President appointed retired police general Servando Hizon as the head of the NPO.

He replaced Enrique Agana who resigned in January. – Marvin Sy