Requesting Entity: Land Registration Authority

Issues Concern: Validity/enforceability of the agreements earlier entered into by the Land Registration Authority (LRA) with various local government units concerning the construction of the agency’s Registry Buildings.

Details

Project implementation “by administration” contemplates the execution by the supposed procuring entity of the project either by any of the following: (a) the use of their own tools/equipment and in-house labor capability; (b) by their own tools/equipment and the labor component of which is awarded thru pakyaw labor contracts; or (c) by tools/equipment owned by other government agencies but which it has access, with the labor component either in-house or acquired thru pakyaw contracts. Ultimately, the feature that defines this concept is the fact that the supposed procuring entity opts to implement the project through utilization primarily of its own resources.

Significantly, as in the case of the agreements between LRA and various local government units, the concept of “by administration” projects is opposed to the concept of “outsourcing” project implementation which latter case connotes reliance of the execution of the project to a different entity. In that case, the tools/equipment component and the labor component of the project belong to the contractor.

In the instant case of the local government units contracted by LRA, they represent themselves no different from any private sector contractor who gets the independent contracting job from the government for the construction of buildings. In this wise, they should be placed in a level plane and equal with those we have set our present standards of competition for and against – the private bidders.

In other words, the set-up contemplated by LRA in the construction of its Registry Buildings is outside the signification of the rules on project implementation “by administration,” to say the least. It may however be helpful to add, the set-up being considered by LRA may prove faulty for want of basis in the law and the rules on procurement.