Rama hits ‘premature’ report that WTG is out of hospital project

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama shows plans for the proposed Osmena Memorial Park to be built in the Dona Pepang cemetery. (CDN PHOTO/JOSE SANTINO BUNACHITA)

It’s not over yet for WTG Construction.

That’s what Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said after expressing dismay over the decision of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) to disqualify the lowest bidding contractor for “insufficient documents”and “false information and discrepancies”.

The mayor said he still is waiting for the formal report on the BAC’s decision to set aside WTG Construction and its Manila-based partner A.M. Oreta and Co. Inc. to handle the first phase of the new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).

“As far as I’m concerned, why should we talk about (WTG being) out when I haven’t received anything yet. We might be eating our own words. Let the process go on,” Rama told reporters yesterday.

He said the the contractor which submitted a bid for P274.9 million, could still protest a decision of the BAC, which voted on the matter last Oct. 31 in a post-qualification.

“Everything is premature at this stage,” Rama said.

City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo said he briefed the mayor yesterday about the protest mechanism under the procurement law.

Decisions of the BAC at any stage of the procurement process may be questioned by filing a request for reconsideration within three days upon receipt of written or verbal notice under Republic Act 9184.

Then the BAC has seven days to decide the matter. If the request is denied, the matter may be elevated to the “head of the procuring entity”, which in this case is Mayor Rama.

Yesterday morning, Mayor Rama met privately with some of the BAC members including Poblete, Councilor Maryann Delos Santos and Jose Daluz III.

City Hall sources said the mayor scolded them for passing information to the media about the BAC’s disqualification before reporting to him.

After the scolding, the BAC members were mum on the issue.

Daluz said they wouldn’t talk about it anymore.

“All things are premature as of now. The final decision will come from the mayor being the head of the procuring entity. Everything we say now is very premature,” Daluz told reporters.

TRANSPARENCY

It was Councilor delos Santos, the designated spokesman of BAC, who earlier confirmed the Oct. 31 BAC meeting where members voted to disqualify the WTG join venture as the lowest bidder.

She said there were “inconsistencies and insufficiencies of submitted documents making it non-responsive.”

She said she acted “in the spirit of transparency”.

“We saw some false information and discrepancies in some of the documents. It’s clear under the government procurement law that at least one of these can be grounds for disqualification,”she told Cebu Daily News earlier.

When the matter was put to a vote, at the instance of Daluz, three voted to disqualify the WTG joint venture — delos Santos, the BAC-infrastructure chairman Jose Marie Poblete and City Assessor Ferdinand Canete.

Daluz and HR chief Dominic Dino objected.

Five out of seven BAC members were present.

City Health Officer Dr. Daisy Villa and City Budget Officer Marietta Gumia were absent during the meeting last Friday.

NO PRIVATE OBSERVERS

Asked yesterday whether private sector observers were present, several City Hall sources said there were none although some NGO representatives were present during the opening of bids on Sept. 30, which was also covered by the media.

The presence of independent observers in BAC proceedings is a safeguard against collusion.

Under RA 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act, “To enhance the transparency of the process, the BAC shall, in all stages of the procurement process, invite, in addition to the representative of the COA, at least two (2) observers, who shall have the right to vote, to sit in its proceedings…”

At least one shall from from a duly recognized private group in a sector relevant to the procurement. For example, for infrastructure projects, national associations of constructors, can be invited.

The other observer “shall come from a non-government organization.”

According to the BAC Secretariat, they send invitations to groups asking them to be a private sector representative during different stages.

Records from the BAC Secretariat showed that they invited the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP)-Cebu, Dilaab Foundation, Commission on Audit (COA), Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE)-Cebu and the Championing the Advancement Restoration and Establishment of CCMC (CARE CCMC).

The BAC Infrastructure Chairman Poblete said the invitation are sent as omnibus letters of invitation that specify the dates of various stages of the procurement.

In his regular press conference after meeting the BAC members yesterday, Rama was openly displeased with the news report about the disqualification of WTG Construction.

“As far as I’m concerned, it was premature. Depende na why the reporting was being done. Maybe there are people also eager to supply pronouncement when the mayor has not even received any final notice from them (BAC),” Rama told reporters.

Castillo, the legal officer, said if the BAC denies the protest, the party can still file another, within seven days from the BAC’s denial, to the head of the procuring entity which in this case is the mayor,” Castillo said.

Castillo cited section 55 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9184 or the “Government Procurement Reform Act.”

During the opening of the bids for the CCMC project last September 30, WTG and AM Oreta was declared the lowest read bidder by the BAC with a bid of P274,975,904.10.

Sought for comment on the delay of the project implementation, Mayor Rama said there should be a proper review first.

“I don’t want to be dictating them. They ought to know there is urgency but they also ought to know there is rule of law and they should be minful about it. Target is a target. The most important thing is don’t be too focused on the target and forgetting about the substantive requirements,” he added..

Only the Espinas of CARE CCMC, COA and the CCMC ad hoc committee attended the pre-procurement conference while only COA attended the pre-bidding. During the opening of the bids, none of the invited groups were present only some media reporters who were covering the event.

Poblete said they don’t have a permanent private sector representative in the BAC. They just send invites to groups who will choose who to send.

For Delos Santos, inviting the private sector is enough but she said she will encourage it more.

“The absence of private sector does not invalidate the proceedings provided they were duly informed and invited. Let it be noted that during the most important process of the bidding, which was the opening of bids, no private sector was present although they were duly notified,” Delos Santos said.

Related Stories:

Contractor disqualified as lowest bidder for CCMC project

Cebu-based WTG and Manila venture gives lowest