‘Gold old days’: setting the NPO record straight

THIS HAS reference to Conrado Banal III’s column titled “Gold old days.” (Inquirer, 5/9/11) He claimed that “things never change at the National Printing Office, or the NPO, the government agency in charge of the printing of official forms.”

In this connection, we would like to ask Banal, a respected journalist, to also take into account the side of the present leadership of the NPO on each and every issue he raised or discussed in his column. It appears that Banal has been misled by his source(s). Allow us to shed light on the matter and set the record straight.

On the issue that the LGUs were forced to order all their official forms from the NPO and that the “going rate” had gone up threefold or even fourfold, we would like to emphasize that the NPO doesn’t have to force the LGUs to order and/or procure these forms from us. Existing laws and issuances on the matter (EO 285, EO 378, MC 180, GAA 2009 and 2010 and GPPB Resolution No. 005-2010) need no further interpretation. “Res ipsa loquitor.” (The thing speaks for itself.)

Further, the present leadership of the NPO is barely seven months in office. It is highly improbable and utterly impractical for us to raise the prices of printing forms three or four times higher than current rates without courting violent reactions from end-users, not to mention the fact that there are now three RGPs (recognized government printers) authorized to print government forms. As a matter of fact, the NPO has gradually lowered the price of some, if not all, of its forms despite the request of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to review, for possible upgrading, all the fees collected by the NPO, in compliance with EO 197. The NPO last revised its fees in October 2004 yet. This therefore belies the report that we have increased our price three or four times.

As to the alleged huge savings made during the time of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, we are pleased to inform everyone that whatever savings the NPO earned from its operation (outsourced and otherwise), these were remitted to the Bureau of Treasury. Not a single cent of these savings was used or spent by the NPO for its operation and/or other purposes. NPO does not enjoy fiscal autonomy, unlike other agencies. All its income goes to the national coffers. As to how much the NPO has remitted to the Bureau of Treasury on a regular basis, this can be checked with the bureau itself.

Last but not the least, we vehemently deny the alleged insertion of the LGUs in the GAA. What has been inserted in the GAA is the inclusion of APO Production Unit as an RGP. There used to be two government printers only—the NPO and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

—EMMANUEL C. ANDAYA,
acting director,
National Printing Office,
[email protected]