Requesting Entity: Bicol Medical Center (BMC)

Issues Concern: Consignment Projects

Details

Whether consignment projects can be considered as similar to the contract to be bid for purposes of complying with the requirements for Single Largest Complete Contract (SLCC).

Consignment in its common meaning is an arrangement whereby the goods are sent by one to another to be sold and disposed by the latter for and on account of the former.

The question of whether consignment projects can be considered as the SLCC required by the provisions of the IRR of RA 9184 necessitates the comparison of a Consignment Project and a Procurement Contract. [C]onsignment arrangement or project cannot be considered as procurement because of the difference in the essential features of the two contracts. The former does not involve acquisition of goods and disbursement of public funds, which are vital features of a procurement contract.

In this regard, while we recognize the authority and discretion of procuring entities to clarify in the Bidding Documents the definition of what it considers to be a similar project by virtue of Section 23.5.1.3 par.3 of the IRR of RA 9184, it is our considered view that a consignment project cannot be considered as similar to the contract to be bid for purposes of complying with the requirements for SLCC because it lacks the elements of acquisition of goods and disbursement of public funds that essentially characterize a procurement contract.