Requesting Entity: Dagupan City

Issues Concern: Accreditation of Bidders

Details

Whether accreditation is required for bidders for newspaper publication.

[R]equiring an accreditation process as a condition precedent for participation in procurement activities of the local government unit runs counter to RA 9184 and its IRR as it would limit the participation of bidders only to those accredited suppliers, to the exclusion and prejudice of other bidders in the market, and it in fact contravenes the very basic principles of competitive bidding. It must be emphasized that the eligibility of bidders to participate in government procurement is determined based on their compliance with the eligibility requirements prescribed in Sections 23 and 24 of the IRR of RA 9184.

Whether a mere Invitation to Bid can be used as a substitute to RFQ in resorting to alternative methods of procurement specifically Shopping and Small Value Procurement.

[F]or as long as the IB contains the minimum information required in Section 3(a) and (b) of the Guidelines for Shopping and Small Value Procurement , it may be considered as a substitute to RFQ. Thus, the IB shall indicate the specification, quantity, Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) and other terms and conditions of the item to be procured, as well as the manner by which price quotations shall be submitted and the deadline for the submission, to be considered as the RFQ to be used in resorting to Shopping and Small Value Procurement. Be that as it may, it is still prudent to denominate the invitation for Shopping and Small Value Procurement when approaching the market as “Request for Quotation” to avoid confusion.