Requesting Entity: Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

Issues Concern: Negotiated Procurement (Lease of Venue)

Details

Whether the DSWD can directly resort to Lease of Venue, as a mode of negotiated procurement pursuant to Section 53.10 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184 and Implementing Guidelines for Lease of Privately-Owned Real Estate and Venue, without undergoing a prior public bidding.

[A]lthough Section 48.2 of the IRR of RA 9184 reiterates the general rule that public bidding is the general mode of procurement, the same section allows procuring entities to resort to alternative methods of procurement in highly exceptional cases and subject to the conditions required by RA 9184, its revised IRR, and applicable guidelines. Among these highly exceptional cases is Negotiated Procurement (Lease of Real Property) under Section53.10 of the IRR.

The Implementing Guidelines for Lease of Privately-Owned Real Estate and Venue which provides the procedures and conditions for procurement of contracts of lease of real property does not require resort to public bidding as a pre-condition. It merely requires procuring entities to conduct cost-benefit analysis to assess the feasibility of leasing a privately- owned real estate or venue as against purchasing or leasing from a government-owned real estate or venue.