Requesting Entity: Government Arsenal (GA) Department of National Defense

Issues Concern: Conduct of Post-qualification under Section 34 of the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. (RA) 9184

Details

Request for clearance/authority to conduct post-qualification pursuant to Section 34 of the IRR of RA 9184 without plant visit to winning bidders that have been dealing with the GA for many years and have proven their legal, financial, and technical competence.

First, the adoption of an internal procedure on the manner of conducting post-qualification is well within the discretion and accountability of the procuring entity to undertake, and does not need the clearance or authority from the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) as long as it does not run counter to the provisions of RA 9184 and its IRR.

Post-qualification should be conducted regardless of the extent of the procuring entity’s experience in contracting with any supplier. However, it is worth noting that the manner of verifying, validating, and ascertaining all statements made and documents submitted by the bidder with the Lowest Calculated Bid is not prescribed in detail in RA 9184 and its IRR. Thus, the procuring entity may adopt internal procedures on how it will conduct the post-qualification in a manner that it deems effective in establishing the responsiveness of the bidder with the requirements, and at the same time, reliable in impressing upon the procuring entity the confidence of and certainty in declaring the bidder as having submitted the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid.