A BILL that seeks to abolish the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), which state auditors have flagged for unused funds transferred by various government agencies, has been filed at the House of Representatives.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez filed House Bill 10221, which will transfer the functions of the state company such as trade-related government-to-government transactions to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The PITC is an attached corporation of the DTI that engages in exports, trade services and special trading agreements and ensures efficient procurement services for the National Government.
Under the bill, unused funds transferred or advanced by agencies to the PITC will go back to the national Treasury. Its workers will also get separation and retirement benefits.
Mr. Rodriguez said that the PITC mandate had become “redundant and irrelevant” after the passage of the Government Procurement Reform Act. Under the law, government agencies must create a procurement board and form their own bids and awards committees. — Russell Louis C. Ku