SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian has asked the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) to explore pre-selection of textbooks to speed up the procurement process.

The senator wanted to know whether the government can choose from a set of published books to address delays in manuscript revision.

“Private schools have been doing preselection of books for years and if it’s been working for them, why can’t public schools do the same?” the co-chairman of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom2) said.

“Can we just choose from a set of existing books already? Instead of developing the manuscript, why don’t we just evaluate existing books?” he asked.

Kevin Ansel Dy, National Book Development Board officer in charge division chief, said the length of textbook procurement on paper “should take only 180 days, but in practice it takes three to five years.”

“The liberalization of the textbook system opens the market to publishers in the private sector and encourages competition. Where there is competition, customers are at a better position to receive quality products,” Dy said.

DepEd Bureau of Learning Resources Director Ariz Cawilan cited several challenges that delay the textbook development process including “the need for a more efficient procurement process for the production and delivery.”

Volume 5 of the Manual of Procedures for the Procurement of Manuscripts for Textbooks and Teacher’s Manuals governs the procurement process for DepEd.

“We have to strike a balance with competition — so we can lessen collusion, favoritism, and so that we can encourage other, smaller publishers in the bidding process,” GPPB Procurement Management Officer Jaymar Bareng said.

Bareng said the GPPB is open to further studying Volume 5. “We encourage DepEd to submit data regarding problems related to procurement.”

“So pre-qualification is possible, depending on how DepEd can justify it?,” Edcom 2 co-chairman Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo asked, to which Bareng answered in the affirmative.

Gatchalian said Edcom’s task is to produce one book per learner.

“We will not solve it if we do the same thing again: develop a manuscript, print it on our own, deliver it all the way to the last school in the country — after 10 years, that’s only when we’re going to see the real problem,” he said.