LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The province’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) recommended the suspension of six contractors in future public bidding of projects being implemented in the province for a maximum of one year for allegedly submitting alleged falsified documents during previous bidding processes that race back to the last administration.
The 6 bidders and contractors who were found to have been allegedly using falsified documents in previous bidding processes were Almond Engineering and Construction, Leo Heirs Construction, Bolos Engineering and Construction, Hillstone Builders, Northbase Builders and Four Brothers Construction.
Earlier, the Commission on Audit (COA)) found that several contractors, including the ones that were suspended, had been allegedly submitting falsified receipts of units of equipment, hand tools and the like in relation to their bidding documents during previous bidding activities done by the provincial government.
The COA findings were contained under Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) N0. 16-10 dated February 9, 2017.
Under existing rules and regulations, the BAC shall impose on bidders the administrative penalty of suspension for one year for the first offense and suspension for two years for the second offense from participating in the competitive bidding process as well as disqualification from further participating in competitive bidding to be undertaken by the procuring entity.
The BAC decided that the sanctions to be imposed on the erring contractors will be suspension for one year in participating in any competitive bidding to be undertaken by the procuring entity, thus, it will serve as a lesson for other contractors not to repeat the same offense because they will be imposed the appropriate penalties once the BAC will discover their violations to existing rules and regulations.
The BAC asserted that the present administration believes in transparency in the conduct of the public bidding of projects and services that is why it will not tolerate any attempt by any enterprising bidder to circumvent the process or manipulate the same because they want to make sure that projects will be awarded to the complying and responsive bidder with authentic bidding documents and attachments.
For Family Construction, the BAC noted that the management was able to present the original copy of the questioned original receipt, thus, no sanction will be imposed against the same unlike his fellow contractors who were not able to allegedly substantiate their declarations in their bidding documents.
The BAC warned other erring contractors in the province who continue to mislead the procuring entity by submitting falsified documents that they will suffer the same penalty once their questionable declarations will be uncovered during the evaluation of their submitted bidding documents when participating in competitive bidding activities.
Further, the BAC appealed to concerned stakeholders who have knowledge on the questionable transactions of contractors participating in competitive bidding in the province to report to the secretariat the same which will be subjected to investigation and eventual imposition of sanctions once verified to be true and correct.
By HENT
