PB resumes session, to act on P250M equipment deal

CEBU, Philippines - After going on recess for almost a month, the Provincial Board will resume its first session for this year this afternoon.

The legislative body will also act on the report of its ad hoc committee on bids and award regarding the controversial bidding of the P250 million worth of heavy and light equipment that will be purchased by the Provincial Government.

Board Member Grecilda Sanchez, who chairs the ad hoc committee, however, refused to divulge the decision of the members of her committee.

She said the report will be presented in the plenary today so all the members can give their comments and justify their votes.

The body will eventually decide whether or not to grant Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III the authority to enter contract with the winning bidder ConEquip Philippines, Inc.

But Sanchez earlier disclosed that they found discrepancies in the bidding process for the equipment, with the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) committing error in its evaluation on the specifications of the equipment.

The computation of the horsepower (hp) for a roller model offered by Civic Merchandising, Inc, one of the bidders, was found by the ad hoc committee to be erroneous.

BAC disqualified Civic for failure to comply with the specifications, contending that the company offered 74 hp instead of the minimum 100.

Sanchez said the BAC’s technical working group, in converting kilowatts to horsepower, used multiplication instead of division.

Thus, Civic’s offer at 99 kilowatts engine power is actually equivalent to 132.7 hp, more than the power required by BAC, she added.

Civic pointed out the error committed by BAC in its motion for reconsideration, but the same was denied, with BAC citing another ground for the company’s disqualification, this time, the falling short of the required operation weight of the roller.

After its motion for reconsideration was denied, Civic no longer challenged the decision of the BAC. —/NSA (FREEMAN)