Half cup of rice pushed as standard national serving

Thet Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said it is pushing for an executive order (EO) to eventually make the half cup of rice as the standard serving size.

Citing the need to minimize waste, PhilRice Head of Development Communication Hazel V. Antonio-Beltran said in an online briefing on Monday that it is proposing initially that food service establishments within government agencies be the testing ground for the half-cup policy, “Then we will now look at the impact that will have on waste,” she said.

The data will be the basis for expanding the standard to private restaurants.

“Right now we only have household data. We can use (the government test run) as reference to promote the initiative in all restaurants,” Ms. Antonio-Beltran said.

According to PhilRice, Philippine households waste about 255,000 metric tons of rice per year, or 19 to 20 kilograms per household. The amount of rice wasted is equivalent to the consumption of 2.79 million people.

She added that the PhilRice is also proposing penalties of between P3,000 and P10,000 for non-compliance.

She said that the Private Sector Advisory Council also supports the initiative and is awaiting approval from the President.

“They’re just waiting for the final approval. Then, maybe, we can start next year. When that happens, maybe after two years, we can make him a national,” Ms. Antonio-Beltran added.

PhilRice has said that 47 local government units have adopted ordinances requiring food establishments to serve rice in half cups.

Source: Business World

Inclusive procurement for women empowerment

The struggles faced by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to bid and participate in government procurement opportunities are quite different from large enterprises, and the struggle is even more apparent for women micro, small and medium enterprises (WMSMEs).

Recent studies show the potential of MSMEs to transform our economy and promote social equity, especially when women entrepreneurs are able to participate.

This was the topic of a recent talk during the 2024 Procurement Summit on Oct. 21, organized by the Government Procurement Policy Board -Technical Support Office, with the theme “Leveraging Local MSMEs for Inclusive and Sustainable Procurement”.

Current state of WMSMEs

The impact of women entrepreneurs in the economy cannot be denied as they drive economic growth and contribute to achieving different sustainable development goals. Based on the 2018 data of Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform, on the leading industries in the MSME sector, around 88 percent of entrepreneurs in the Philippines engaged in retail or wholesale were women; and at least 40 percent were engaged in arts and culture, materials or manufacturing, food processing and agriculture. The government has the capacity to leverage its significant market reach to influence and shape how businesses create and process products and services to the public. It can, in turn, influence public demand and create opportunities for women, including consumer awareness, to achieve sustainable and inclusive procurement practices. This also means that our country can employ equitable and inclusive procurement policies to promote significant socioeconomic change for women and their businesses.

Recommendations for the private and public sectors

By including WMSMEs in government procurement, the government is assured that economic benefits are widely and justly distributed because research shows that women often invest a high proportion of their income to their family and community compared with their male counterparts, which leads to transformative improvement of the family’s well-being and enhancement of community development.

For the private sector

1. Set targets/goals on the percentage of total purchases to be sourced from WMSMEs. By actively seeking out and engaging with women entrepreneurs, companies will diversify their supply chains and will help break some deeply systemic barriers that hinder women from participating in procurement.

2. Establish partnerships with organizations that support women entrepreneurs to identify suppliers and for ease of connections with WMSMEs.

3. Integrate gender-responsive criteria in supplier selection and accreditation. When evaluating potential suppliers, companies can include criteria that assess the supplier’s commitment to gender-responsive policies to promote gender diversity in the workforce and any other initiatives that will promote women empowerment within their business. Integrating this criteria into the supplier selection process not only encourages suppliers to adopt more inclusive practices but also helps provide a competitive advantage to those who prioritize gender responsiveness.

4. Adopt inclusive and gender-responsive procurement policies. Implementing supplier diversity is an effective strategy that explicitly seeks inclusion of women-owned and women-led businesses in the supply chain. Through this approach, we can strategically promote gender equality within the business by supporting potential women suppliers.

For the public sector

1. Strictly implement the provisions of Republic Act No. 9501, or the Magna Carta for MSMEs, which mandates government agencies to allocate 20 percent of all their procurement opportunities for goods and services to MSMEs. Though no specific targets have been set for WMSMEs that comprise about 56 percent of MSMEs, they will nonetheless benefit. Preferably, a specific target is set for WMSMEs.

2. Incorporate gender-responsive criteria in bidding evaluation. As many WMSMEs are often small, they face challenges in competing with large companies for government contracts. To enable WMSMEs to participate, among the criteria that could be incorporated in the evaluation of bids from larger companies should be a commitment to source a percentage of their own purchases from WMSMEs, and the presence of policies that promote gender equality in their organizations. This approach could help level the playing field for smaller businesses and is aligned with the Magna Carta, enabling government spending to contribute to the economic empowerment of women. To further encourage WMSMEs to participate in public procurement, the government can provide support and resources to organize all women consortia, where WMSMEs can pool their resources and share their expertise.

3. Utilize the gender and development (GAD) budget of all government agencies and instrumentalities for procurement from WMSMEs. Based on the approved national budget of P5.768 trillion, even if only 1 percent of the 5-percent GAD budget of approximately P57.68 billion is used for purchases from WMSMEs, can you imagine the impact that this will create to the woman, her family and her community?

4. Link government incentives to gender-responsive procurement practices. Government agencies, such as the Department of Trade and Industry, which is responsible for MSME development, could include in their evaluation criteria for the grant of incentives a commitment to source from WMSMEs or to implement gender diversity initiatives. Government can thus encourage businesses to give priority to gender equality in their operations, amplifying the impact of government mechanisms.

‘When she bids, we benefit’

Taking a collective action to build a more equitable, inclusive society can transform our economy where women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential. The private and public sectors must work together to empower women so we can achieve inclusive procurement practices.

When she bids, we benefit; ensuring participation of WMSMEs in procurement is not just a matter of economic necessity­—it is a moral imperative. Gender-responsive procurement will not only benefit WMSMEs but also contribute to a more diverse and resilient economy, leading to greater social and economic prosperity for all.

Source: Inquirer

Infra spending surged in Sept, up 16.9%

State spending on infrastructure went up by 16.9% in September fueled by disbursements for finished transport projects, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

In the latest National Government disbursement report, spending on infrastructure and other capital outlays rose by P19.8 billion to P137.1 billion in September from P117.3 billion in the same month last year.

Month on month, infrastructure spending went up by 26.24% from P108.6 billion in August.

The DBM attributed the uptick in September disbursement to the payment for completed road network and bridge programs of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Higher disbursements were also made for various foreign-assisted projects of the Department of Transportation.

It also noted capital outlays for local counterpart requirements for implementing the Metro Manila Subway Project Phase 1, North-South Commuter Railway System, and the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project.

Funds were also used for the Department of National Defense’s (DND) Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program, as well as the construction and repair of justice halls nationwide and implementation of the Department of Education’s computerization program.

In the January-to-September period, infrastructure spending rose by 14.6% to P982.4 billion from P857.6 billion in the same period in 2023.

“The robust spending growth for the period was largely credited… to infrastructure and other capital outlays with significant disbursements recorded in the DPWH for its banner infrastructure projects and the DND for its defense modernization projects,” the DBM said.

Overall infrastructure disbursements, which included transfers to local government units and subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations, went up by 12% to P1.14 trillion as of end-September.

“This was equivalent to 6.1% of GDP (gross domestic product) vis-a-vis 5.9% outturn for the same period last year and the 5.6% full-year target this year,” it said.

Philip Arnold “Randy” P. Tuaño, dean of the Ateneo School of Government, said the increase in infrastructure spending is likely to be sustained in the short term.

“(The increase was) due to a significant balance from various budget sources that remain available for release, and the prioritization of large-scale transport projects such as the Metro Manila Subway,” Mr. Tuaño said in an e-mail over the weekend.

He also expects a surge in infrastructure spending given that the 2025 midterm election is five months away.

“It should first be noted that infrastructure spending year on year had increased, and this will further increase going into the 2025 national budget,” Terry L. Ridon, a public investment analyst and convenor of think tank InfraWatch PH, said in a Viber message. “This is the underlying reason for spending improvements this year.”

The government’s infrastructure program for this year is set at P1.472 trillion, equivalent to 5.6% of GDP.

Mr. Ridon urged infrastructure agencies to improve absorptive capacity “particularly as 2025 is an election year in which the law mandates a suspension of project implementation for a specific period of time.”

“The challenges are that the absorption and burn rate by our key agencies, especially in infrastructure and agriculture, have been quite low,” former National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Cielito F. Habito, said at a conference at the University of the Philippines School of Economics on Friday.

Mr. Habito raised that there have been “questionable priorities” on allocations and utilization in some sectors.

“We allocate a lot of budget but it turns out it can’t be spent within the period it was meant to be used,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

“This is a very important issue in our fiscal policy in general. It’s not so much the fiscal policy, but the implementation of the fiscal policies in that sense.”

Mr. Habito also mentioned the propensity of DPWH to “reblock” roads, calling it a “seemingly misplaced allocation of the budgets.”

He also said the government needs more public-private partnership types of projects given the shortage of public funds.

Source: Business World