Philippine E-Journals

Competency-Based Assessment of Government Procurement Practitioners of the Philippine Coast Guard

Jonie M. Caudor

Discipline: business and management (non-specific)

 

Abstract:

The main purpose of this study is to assess the competencies of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) procurement practitioners, mainly the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), Technical Working Group (TWG), and BAC Secretariat. Specifically, it aimed to identify their competen- cies required by Republic Act No. 12009, competency levels against these standards through objective exam and self-assessment survey, competency gaps, and challenges in implementing RA 12009. The study utilized the exploratory sequential mixed method approach uti- lizing document reviews, competency exam, and survey question- naires as data collection tools. There were 434 respondents compris- ing of 121 BAC members, 188 TWG members and 125 BAC Secretar- iat. Upon review of RA 12009 and its IRR, the Procurement Practition- ers have technical/functional competencies that vary according to their functions, while they shared several generic competencies. Both competencies are essential to make them successful in fulfilling their procurement roles. Findings further indicated that the BAC, TWG and BAC Secretariat obtained overall fairly competent ratings in the GPPB competency exam, which covered technical knowledge of RA 12009 provisions pertaining to planning, procurement strategy, bid docu- mentation, bid evaluation, and contract award. In terms of the self- assessment survey, the TWG obtained the lowest overall means among groups with fairly competent ratings in functional/technical and generic competencies. Findings also revealed significant gaps be- tween the required RA 12009 competencies and actual competency level of the BAC, TWG, and BAC Secretariat. Moreover, there were sev- eral moderate challenges in implementing RA 12009 in planning, bid- ding and awarding, and contract implementation stages, which varied across the three groups. To address these competency gaps and chal- lenges, the study recommended developing role-specific competency program based on RA 12009 and its IRR requirements, drafting a pol- icy to institutionalize the program, conducting mandatory training and competency reassessment, and future research directions.