Govt saves P45.7M from discounted airfares – DBM
The national government has generated savings of over P45 million from airfare discounts provided by local carriers, the Budget department said on Friday.
“At least P45.7 million worth of airfare savings was reported by the Procurement Service (PS) as of 31 July 2018 due to the Government Fares Agreement (GFA),” the department said in a statement.
The savings were generated from the 8-9 percent discounts for airline tickets purchased by government agencies enrolled in the program, which “ensure savings in the procurement of the air transportation needs of all government employees for their official trips.”
The GFA is an initiative of DBM and the PS-Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System or PS-PhilGEPS.
Under the GFA, registered government agencies enjoy discounted prices from Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Asia Philippines for domestic and international air tickets.
The Budget department noted that the savings “does not include unquantified savings from additional benefits which enrolled agencies enjoy under the program such as free first rebooking fee, waived processing fee for domestic and international tickets and additional weight allowances.”
“Agencies also enjoy airport lounge privileges under the program,” the department added.
Availments under the GFA program amounted to P480.1 million as of end-July and a total of 160 government agencies enjoy the program’s benefits by utilizing the PS-PhilGEPS Travel Portal.
“Recently, in partnership with the Department of Education, the Philippine contingent with 215 participants for the 10th Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) School Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was booked through GFA,” the Budget department said.
In addition, “the Philippine Sports Commission and the national athletes for the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games took advantage of the GFA discounts.”
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