Rama orders rebid

Bidding for CCMC project declared a failure

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama yesterday announced that he has declared a failure of bidding on the project to construct a new building for the Cebu City Medical Center.

Rama invoked Section 41 of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act in calling for a rebid of the project.

At yesterday’s news conference, Rama directed his staff to have his memorandum circular dated Dec. 18 be published in three local dailies.

Memorandum Order  2014-2435 which Rama signed was addressed to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).

“It is emphasized that the espousal of the governing principles of government procurement on transparency and competitiveness is of utmost importance. Hence, in order to address the issue raised pertaining to the initial bidding for the construction of Phase I of the New Cebu City Medical Center (“the project”) and to avoid or preclude any suspicion of favoritism and anomalies, this Office deems it prudent that the competitive bidding process for the project be re-conducted,” the mayor said in the memorandum.

With the declaration, the mayor ordered the BAC to conduct a new round of bidding which means the whole process of placing an advertisement to invite interested bidders,  holding of a pre-bid conference, eligibility screening of prospective bidders, receipt and opening of bids, evaluation of bids, post-qualification and awarding of contract would be repeated.

He also wants to “review and revise accordingly” the composition of the BAC to ensure proper compliance with the provisions of the Procurement Law.

Rama also wants the terms, conditions and specifications indicated in the bidding documents to also be reviewed and revised accordingly to comply with laws and regulations.

“I’ve been following everything, I was doing my own research and doing my own evaluation,” he said in the news conference.

He said he has met with some members of the BAC last Thursday to discuss the memorandum.  The mayor’s executive assistant Joey Daluz, City Assessor Ferdinand Cañete and Councilor Mary Ann Delos Santos – who are members of the BAC – were not in the meeting.

The mayor refused to reveal further details as well as answer questions on the issue.

“Let’s enjoy the season first,” he said adding that he will be holding another news conference in January where he would give more details.

Rama however clarified that the decision to rebid had nothing to do with the use of the P300 million CCMC construction fund to bankroll the disbursement of the cash allowances to the city’s elderly residents as revealed by City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas early this week. The cash allowances are scheduled for distribution to the senior citizen beneficiaries on Monday.

Delos Santos, out?

Rama’s move moreover fueled speculations that Councilor Delos Santos, who chairs the City Council ad hoc committee on the CCMC, would be edged out of the BAC.

It was Delos Santos who  revealed several violations allegedly made by the project’s lowest bidder – the joint venture of WTG Construction and Manila-based A.M. Oreta and Company Inc.  The consortium was  disqualified by the BAC for allegedly falsifying documents and misrepresentation.

The councilor said she was surprised with the sudden move.

“I just received the memo. I’m caught flat-footed. I didn’t expect it because the BAC is currently in the post-qualification of the second lowest bidder. I’m kind of confused with the memo. I thought that the process has to be consummated first before failure of bidding is declared,” she said.

Although she admitted she’s not an expert on the bidding process, she said she though it’s only the BAC who can declare a failure of bidding since it is an independent body.