ON SECOND THOUGHT...
Exec. Director Ruby U. Alvarez

Instant applause greeted our proposal to limit the number of eligibility documents from 15 to 6.

We saw this as a confirmation of our observation that the stringent eligibility requirements prescribed by IRR-A have contributed to many failed biddings; and thereby, have limited competition in government bidding.

But during the open forum, most of the participants, who are esteemed members of the bids and award committee (BAC) of government owned and controlled corporations, expressed their reservation on our proposed policy alternative: submission of some eligibility documents 30 days after notifying the bidder with the lowest calculated and responsive or the highest rated and responsive bid.

It will cause delay, they said.  It is more advisable to require these documents during post-qualification.

This kind of feedback is the very reason why we hold consultations.  Other suggestions worth considering are set forth below:

1. Setting the ABC as a % of revenue especially in the bidding of income-generating projects
2. Increasing the Php 50,000 threshold for small value procurement and shopping to Php 500,000
3. Revisiting the classification of permanent and semi-permanent structures under Section 62.2.2 of IRR-A (this prescribes the appropriate warranty period for infrastructure projects)
4. Increasing the term of BAC members to 2 years and creating plantilla positions for BAC secretariat
5. Increasing protest fee from 1% to 5% of ABC
6. Relaxing restrictions on foreign bidders (According to them, this nationality restrictions has limited competition in IT projects)
7. GPPB to clarify application of RA 9184 to government corporations involved in mining and trading operations

At this point, we would like to thank Sec. Nonoy Andaya, Chair of GPPB, for gracing the event.  Also, many thanks to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), led by the indefatigable GCC Al Agra.  The OGCC has been a great partner in the development of procurement policy for government corporations.