The Department of Budget and Management asked for a chance to ''fix'' its procurement service at a House hearing on Friday, amid the calls of Congress for its abolition.

During the House Committee on Appropriations hearing, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said: ''Of course, I will defer to the wisdom of the Congress if they really wish to abolish PS-DBM (Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management). But let me just state that during the time when I was with Secretary(Benjamin) Diokno in 2017 to 2019, one of the benefits of the PS-DBM is actually the savings that the government incurred during that time, which is worth 18 billion.”“So, I think if we give a chance to PS-DBM and if we clean the process of the procurement of PS-DBM, maybe we can go back to its old glory. We appointed someone who is very respectable in the area, which is Atty. Dennis Santiago. So, we already have programs to fix PS-DBM,” she added.

AAMBIS-OWA Partylist Rep. Lex Anthony Colada earlier asked Pangandaman if she agrees with the calls to abolish PS-DBM, citing controversies involving their procurement of overpriced laptops and overpriced personal protective equipment (PPE).

“Do you subscribe, Secretary Pangandaman to the same persuasions, to the same motivations which move the good senator from Ilocos Norte to come out with that proposal?” Colada said.

Senator Imee Marcos last week filed Senate Bill No. 1123 which seeks to abolish PS-DBM for having controversial procurement contracts in the government.

On Tuesday, PS-DBM and the Department of Education were probed for procuring “outdated” and “pricey” laptops for teachers to be used for online learning.

This came after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the two agencies in their report.

Several members of the House of Representatives, including lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc, have also filed counterpart measures.

PS-DBM in a statement issued last week, declared that it will suspend the procurement of non-common use supplies and equipment. Jaspearl Tan/DMS