Legal basis and consolidation purpose
- The Circular affirms that Section 6 of Executive Order (EO) No. 285 (July 25, 1987) created the National Printing Office (NPO) and mandated its exclusive jurisdiction over specified printing functions.
- The Circular acknowledges that Executive Order No. 378 (October 25, 2004) amended Section 6 of EO No. 285 by removing exclusive jurisdiction for certain government agencies’ printing service requirements under conditions stated therein, while preserving special treatment for election paraphernalia.
- The Circular recognizes Memorandum Order No. 38 (series 1998) for guidelines on contracting with accredited private security printers for certain accountable forms with money value and other specialized accountable forms.
- The Circular recognizes that election laws require exclusive printing of official ballots and other accountable election forms by the NPO and/or Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas under security measures the Commission on Elections provides.
- The Circular recognizes that the General Appropriations Act requires government agencies to secure the prior waiver of the NPO before engaging private printers for printing accountable forms.
- The Circular consolidates related provisions of laws and issuances to clarify NPO jurisdiction and clarify procedures for printing government accountable forms (WHEREAS clauses).
NPO general mandate
- The National Printing Office (NPO) is the primary and main provider of printing services to national, provincial, city and municipal governments, agencies and instrumentalities, including government corporations, subject to qualifications in the Circular (Section 1).
- The NPO’s role as primary provider is treated as continuing, while the Circular specifies jurisdiction rules for particular categories of printing (Section 1, read with Sections 2–6).
Exclusive jurisdiction: money-value accountable forms
- The NPO has exclusive jurisdiction over the printing of accountable forms with money value and specialized accountable forms of the requisitioning office or agency, subject to listed guidelines (Section 2).
- Requisitions for printing accountable forms with money value and those specially designed for the agency’s requirements must be submitted to the NPO (Section 2).
- The NPO must fill in the requisition and perform the printing job (Section 2).
- If the NPO is incapable of undertaking the job within thirty (30) days from submission—taking into account the target completion time of the requisitioning office—the NPO must immediately conduct a public bidding (Section 2).
- The bidding for such printing job must be participated in by NPO-accredited private security printers only, and the printing job must be awarded under the relevant procurement law, rules and regulations (Section 2).
- Printing of the requested forms must be done under strict control and supervision of the NPO and in the presence of NPO’s representative together with representatives from the Commission on Audit and the requisitioning agency (Section 2).
- The NPO must be the sole distributor of all forms printed by accredited security printers, and payment for services rendered by those printers must be done by the NPO (Section 2).
- After completion, all flats, cuts and types used for the specific printing job must be surrendered to the requisitioning office or agency (Section 2).
Exclusive jurisdiction: election ballots and paraphernalia
- Official ballots and other accountable election forms and paraphernalia must be printed exclusively by the NPO and/or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Section 3).
- Printing of election materials must be done under proper security measures provided by the Commission on Elections and under other conditions prescribed by law (Section 3).
- If the NPO cannot meet the Commission’s printing requirements, the NPO must promptly issue a corresponding certification so the Commission may contract private printers as provided by law (Section 3).
Other standard and accountable forms: conditions for private printing
- For the printing of official standard and accountable forms other than those covered under Sections 2 and 3, government agencies, instrumentalities, and corporations may source printing services outside the NPO only if two conditions are met (Section 4):
- The private sector printing service must be superior in quality and at a lower cost than the NPO; and
- The private printing provider must be flexible in meeting the government agency’s target completion time (Section 4).
- When tapping private providers for accountable and standard forms, government agencies, instrumentalities, and corporations must adhere to guidelines and safeguards prescribed by the Director General of the Philippine Information Agency (Section 4).
- Government agencies must secure a prior written waiver by the NPO before commencing contracting procedures with private printers for accountable and standard forms (Section 4).
- If warranted, the NPO must promptly issue the waiver, considering the requisitioning office’s target completion time (Section 4).
Exclusive jurisdiction: specified public documents
- The NPO retains exclusive printing jurisdiction over specified public documents, including the Official Gazette, General Appropriations Act, Philippine Reports, and development information materials of the Philippine Information Agency (Section 5).
Other government printing jobs: non-exclusive acceptance
- The NPO may accept other government printing jobs, including government publications, in addition to those enumerated, but it does so on a non-exclusive basis (Section 6).
Inconsistency rule and revocation
- All executive issuances, orders, rules and regulations that are inconsistent with Memorandum Circular No. 180 are revoked, amended, or modified accordingly (Section 7).