Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III’s decision to let go of Black Pearl Security Agency’s interim services stemmed from a question of competence, not premature media fire over alleged favoritism.
The lapses of the security agency occurred at a time when Black Pearl volunteered its services as a stop-gap measure pending final decision of the bids and awards committee (BAC). It should have performed to impress. With a bid for a potential P37 million contract, who would take chances of less than super service?
In less than two weeks, however, one of its guards accidentally discharged his gun, hitting a civilian, and another guard was caught sleeping on duty. The guard sent to replace the shooter turned out to be unlicensed.
These blunders alone blew Black Pearl’s chance of qualifying.
By offering and performing services without a contract, the agency took the risk of work with no pay. If the agency dares present a bill for services rendered, Capitol officials would have no legal basis , not even a misplaced sense of charity, to release a peso from its coffers.
Davide took flak for appearing to take on the applicant’s offer on the spur of the moment. The facts, however, show that the BAC had been meeting way before the May 31 expiry of the contract of the previous agency, Tactical Security Agency, and had to extend deliberations because of the motion for reconsideration of two agencies that were scrapped from a field of five.
Why so much heat and speculation about money-making on a deal that hasn’t been finalized? Why the lobbying to have the contract of Tactical extended? With a budget of P37 million for security services of the Province of Cebu, who wouldn’t cry loudly?
The issue we see is not wheeling-and-dealing but the need to follow the right process with full transparency.
While the government’s bidding and procurement laws have maze-like provisions, it has safety nets like the requirement to conduct a post-qualification review of the documents of the bidders.
That has been followed. With the scrapping of Black Pearl’s bid, leaving only two agencies, including Tactical, it looks like the Capitol is heading for a rebidding.
For the sake of transparency, more eyes are needed in the process. The six-member BAC is composed of Capitol personnel only. Where is the private sector representative who’s supposed to be the eyes and ears of ordinary citizens? The name of this valuable check-and-balance doesn’t appear in the the committee’s resolution.
BAC meetings and documents should be open to public scrutiny, which was not practiced in the previous Capitol’s Garcia administration.
With the hullabaloo raised over Black Pearl, now is a good time to start.
If the accidental shooting had happened later than earlier, would the Davide administration have canceled its services just as quickly? If that habal-habal driver was killed, Governor Davide would have been in deeper trouble. Speculation about whether backroom considerations were behind Black Pearl’s May 31 takeover remain speculations.
We hope the Davide administration takes steps to better evaluate services offered, even if it’s initially for free, lest they get more than they bargained for. Road-testing freebies, while tempting, can be a lot more dangerous than one realizes.