Requesting Entity: Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)

Issues Concern: Effect of Re-assignment of BAC Member

Details

Whether the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) can continue the conduct of its business pending replacement of one (1) of the provisional members who was re-assigned.


Effect of Absence of Provisional Member

At the outset, it bears stressing that the absence of one (1) provisional member of the BAC does not affect the validity of the proceedings provided that a quorum is present.

Re-assignment of BAC Member

It should be noted that re-assignment of a BAC member is not considered a simple case of absence.
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[a] re-assignment operates to remove the personnel from the plantilla position he/she occupies within the procuring entity and transfers him/her to another plantilla position.

As such, the operations of the BAC will be hampered by the re-assignment of a member, whether provisional or regular, if such re-assignment results in the reduction of the BAC composition to less than five (5) members.

Re-assignment of Regular BAC Member

In this case, the re-assignment of the regular member shall not be deemed to affect his/her membership in the BAC, unless there is a categorical decision by the head of the procuring entity (HOPE) to remove such personnel as BAC member; or the plantilla position where the BAC member was re-assigned is not one of those mentioned in the office order on BAC Composition or is disqualified from BAC membership under the rules.

Re-assignment of Provisional Member

If a provisional member is designated as a BAC member by reason of his/her technical expertise, the consideration for his/her designation is similar to that of personnel specifically identified to be a BAC member. As such, his/her re-assignment will not remove him/her from the BAC so long as there is no categorical directive stating otherwise or the plantilla position where he/she was re-assigned is not one of those disqualified to be part of the BAC Composition or is disqualified from BAC membership under the rules.

In view of the foregoing discussions, the re-assignment of one (1) provisional BAC member may affect the conduct of BAC activities depending on the designation and the effect of such re-assignment on the BAC composition. Owing to the importance of the functions of the BAC, we wish to stress that it is imperative for the HOPE to immediately replace any vacant BAC position in order to maintain a valid constitution of the BAC and avoid a lull in its operation.