Last Jan. 4, 2023 came an email from the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), informing that “the system temporarily suspends your Platinum membership due to expired eligibility documents listed in the “Annex A” of your certificate.”
“Please update your Class A eligibility document to return your membership to active status. Go to the “Organization” menu > click the Platinum Membership and edit the certificate with suspended status,” the message said further.
A check of the PhilGEPS website showed that the suspension is pursuant to Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Resolution No. 15-2021, which stated the Platinum Membership of suppliers with expired Class A eligibility documents will be automatically suspended by the PhilGEPS beginning December 10, 2022.
In a later advisory, the system issued PS Advisory 2022-039 dated Dec. 6, 2022, informing merchants tagged as “Suspended” due to expiration of Mayor’s Permit that the suspension can be lifted by uploading the Official Receipt as proof of their renewal for 2023.
Accordingly, when the Mayor’s Permit is secured, the document shall be uploaded and details must be updated in PhilGEPS, it added.
While the suspension affects only the membership in the system and does not prevent the merchant from participating in public bidding, it prevents the merchant from accessing the PhilGEPS website to check on posted invitations to bid.
This policy is idiotic, as the expiration of a business establishment’s mayor’s permit to operate at the end of the previous year does not mean it stops operating by Jan. 1 until a new mayor’s permit is issued.
It would probably be appropriate if the law and the local government units would allow establishments to apply for the renewal of their mayor’s permit weeks ahead of the Dec. 31 expiration date.
But the Local Government Code of 1991 specifically mandates that taxes, fees or charges associated with the mayor’s permit are to be paid within the first 20 days of January or of each subsequent quarter (if the payment is quarterly).
Considering that there are now thousands of business establishments all trying to renew their permits on the first 20 days of the year lest they incur surcharges, there is no certainty that one’s permit renewal would be approved during the period.
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THE WIFE AND THE MISTRESS. Jenny was sitting reading her favorite magazine when suddenly an ad pops for an all-expenses-paid cruise for the low price of $500. She excitedly goes to Jack, her husband, and shows him the ad.
“Look Jack,” she says, “it’s in two days and only $500!”
“I’ll be honest with you,” said her husband, “I have too much work for a cruise. How about you go and have a good time?”
His wife is a bit disappointed but bounces back and decides she will have a good time anyway. The next day, Jack is in his office when his co-worker, who is also his mistress, comes to him excitedly.
“Look Jack,” she says, “there’s this cruise tomorrow that is on sale! Only $500!”
“I’m really not into cruises, to be honest,” replies Jack. “Here’s $500, why don’t you go and have a good time?”
She agrees to do just so, and as it turns out, both his wife and his mistress ended up going on the same cruise.
A few days later, his wife comes back from the cruise. As she tells him how much fun she had, she shows him photos she took. While looking them over, Jack notices that his lover Brenda is in some of the photos in the background.
He points to her and asks his wife: “Who’s she?”
“Oh, her.” sniffs his wife disdainfully, “I call her the cruise-slut because she slept with half of the men there.” The next day, Jack goes to the office and gets the same excited story accompanied by photos from his mistress Brenda.
Once again, he sees a familiar face in some of the photos – his wife.
He then points to his wife and asks Brenda: “Who is she?”
“Oh, her!” says Brenda, “She’s such a nice woman, with all the men on board, she never left her husband’s side for a second!”