BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-CAR) urged individuals and groups wanting to become observers in the conduct of public bidding for the different funded public works projects regionwide to file for accreditation with the agency’s central office.
DPWH-CAR construction division chief Engr. Clifton Valencerina said that to avoid people flocking to the regional and district offices during the conduct of public bidding to serve as observers, there is a need for the said individuals and groups to first request for their accreditation so that they will have the legal personality to serve as observers during the conduct of the bidding processes.
He pointed out that all requests for accreditation as observers should be filed with the agency’s central office which is authorized to issue the required accreditation for those that are qualified to serve as observers during the conduct of the bidding process.
Earlier, concerned citizens and some members of the media criticized the DPWH-CAR Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) for allegedly disallowing them to observe the conduct of the bidding of some major projects in the different parts of the region during the scheduled bidding last November 7, 2019 that resulted to an outrage on the part of those that were deprived access to observe the conduct of the process.
Valencerina explained that once that concerned citizens are aware that the BAC is lenient in allowing observers to sit in the bidding process, there will surely be chaos in the limited space designated for bidding considering that people will surely congest the same which should be avoided in the first place, thus, the best thing for interested observers to do is to request for accreditation with the agency’s central office.
According to him, the BAC will surely welcome observers to witness the conduct of the bidding processes in the agency once the said individuals and groups will be accredited and be oriented on the rules and regulations that will be observed to prevent misunderstanding among the BAC members and the observers in the course of the bidding.
Under the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9184 or the government Procurement Act, observers of the conduct of bidding processes in the government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations and local governments among others must first file their request for accreditation with the proper authorities prior to their serving as observers.
The DPWH-CAR officials assured concerned stakeholders in the region that the agency remains transparent in the conduct of the public bidding of the different infrastructure projects that have been funded considering that the agency wants the best project implementers for the programmed and funded projects that will be implemented in the different parts of the region next year.
Some contractors recently criticized the DPWH-CAR Bids and Wards Committee for allegedly rigging the bidding process to favor the entry of contractors from outside the region who have questionable track records over local contractors with already proven track records in the construction industry.
By HENT
Photo by: ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS
