BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan welcomed the pronouncement of President Rodrigo R. Duterte for the Congress of the Philippines to revisit and introduce the appropriate changes to Republic Act (RA) 9184 or the government Procurement Act to fastrack the bidding process and guarantee the timely delivery of equipment and supplies of government agencies and local governments.
The local chief executive pointed out Congress must also include in the possible amendments of the procurement law the policy on multiple contracts of suppliers and contractors to guarantee that a single contractor will not corner projects.
“We support the call of President Duterte for Congress to amend the government procurement law to update it. We have encountered numerous problems with the implementation of the procurement law and Congress must amend the law to suit the prevailing situation in the government,” Domogan stressed.
Aside from making sure that equipment and supplies are delivered on time, the Mayor also pointed out it must be specified that a contractor should not be awarded another project while the contractor has an existing project to implement to prevent a single contractor from cornering the projects which may compromise the quality and timeliness of implementation.
He said guidelines must also be put in place to prevent contractors from deliberately undercosting their bids below the approved budget cap of projects just for them to corner numerous projects which often results to problems once the project is implemented to the prejudice of the public.
According to him, it has been the practice of contractors to cut down on cost by using the same units of equipment and human resources for all their awarded projects which explains why the quality of work and the period to complete the projects are compromised.
He asserted the public has always been at the losing end due to the malpractices of contractors in cornering juicy projects which they could not actually complete according to the specified project standards and the completion period resulting to monstrous traffic jams and massive diggings prevalent in various parts of the country.
He agreed to the arguments of the President that the lowest bidder should not actually be the winning bidder as could become the source of corruption which compromised the quality of the projects.
Domogan is optimistic that Congress will immediately act on the President’s request for the amendment of the government procurement law so that concerned government agencies and local governments will be getting quality equipment and supplies as well as quality projects that could last their prescribed economic life thereby preventing public funds from being wasted.
By Dexter A. See