RA 9184 was repealed on 13 August 2024. Most content you will find online still cites it as the governing statute — it is not. This page covers RA 12009, the New Government Procurement Act, how the 3-year transition works, and what changed for LGU solar projects.
RA 12009 — the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) — governs LGU solar procurement for projects initiated after 13 August 2024. Signed on 20 July 2024, it replaced RA 9184 (the Government Procurement Reform Act) and covers all government entities: national agencies, LGUs, GOCCs, GFIs, and SUCs. Competitive bidding remains the default procurement mode under the new statute.
The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) were approved through GPPB Resolution No. 02-2025 on 4 February 2025 and updated as of 30 March 2026. The Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) issues the IRR and sets procurement thresholds — these are the authoritative sources. "RA 12009" and "NGPA" refer to the same statute.
Yes — for a specific set of projects. The transition rule in RA 12009 applies an initiation-date test: the governing law is determined by when the procurement was initiated, not when the contract runs or when construction happens.
Because the 3-year transition period is still running in 2026, an LGU may hold contracts under both statutes simultaneously. An LGU officer reviewing an ongoing multi-year project and a new project in the same fiscal year is dealing with two legal regimes at once. This is normal and expected during the transition window.
Competitive bidding remains the default procurement mode under RA 12009. The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) conducts eligibility screening and evaluation; the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) carries the posting; and the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) sets the price ceiling for any award — the BAC cannot award above the ABC.
The sequence below covers procurement from budget appropriation to Notice to Proceed. The earlier stages — facility audit, AIP inclusion, and budget appropriation — happen in the planning cycle before procurement officially begins. LGU solar funding sources covers those pre-procurement stages.
Not necessarily. RA 12009 introduced MEARB — the Most Economically Advantageous Responsive Bid — as a quality-weighted alternative to lowest-price award. Where the procuring entity applies MEARB criteria, the BAC evaluates bids on a combination of technical specification and price, not on price alone. Lowest price no longer wins automatically.
The compliant bid with the lowest financial offer wins. Technical quality is evaluated only to determine compliance — once a bid is found compliant, price decides. A lower-quality system with a lower price wins over a better-specified system at a slightly higher price.
The BAC assigns weights to technical and financial criteria defined in the bid documents. A bid that scores higher on technical quality can win over a lower-priced competitor — provided the combined weighted score is best among compliant bids. Specification quality matters in the evaluation.
For a BAC writing a solar streetlight specification, MEARB means the evaluation criteria can include battery chemistry, lumen output retention over time, IP rating, and autonomy — not just unit price. A supplier whose product genuinely outperforms on these dimensions can win without being the cheapest bidder, provided those criteria are written into the bid documents at the outset. The specification is written before the bidding opens; MEARB only helps if the BAC drafts evaluation criteria that capture real quality differences.
RA 12009 expanded preference for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in government procurement. Suppliers registered as micro or small enterprises qualify for the preference, which applies alongside the standard eligibility requirements. This is a direct commercial advantage for suppliers at the earlier stage of their government procurement participation.
The specific registration mechanics and preference margin under RA 12009's IRR are governed by the GPPB and are subject to revision. The authoritative source for current registration requirements is gppb.gov.ph and the NGPA microsite at ngpa.gppb.gov.ph.
SolarStream understands the RA 12009 procurement process — eligibility documents, ABC constraints, and MEARB evaluation criteria. Talk to our team before the bid posting opens.
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