LRT 2 bidding hounded by alleged anomalies

Another bidding anomaly is threatening to rock the Estrada administration, this time involving the much-delayed $300-million final phase of the Light Rail Transit 2 which traverses the highly congested C.M. Recto Avenue-Aurora Boulevard route.

The Economic Coordinating Council, the new economic superbody created by President Estrada to put his economic house in order, is now a virtual house divided following pressures to include two disqualified Japanese bidders in the final evaluation for the project.

Highly reliable sources said National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Felipe Medalla called Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) officials to a meeting last week and told them to find a way to change their evaluation report to accommodate two additional bidders.

Medalla, a member of the ECC, reportedly told the DOTC to lower the passing mark in its pre-qualification criteria from 70 percent to 50 percent.

"If this will be adopted, two Japanese bidders will automatically be included in the list of qualified bidders," NEDA sources said.

It may be recalled that of the eight participating bidders, only two bidders, Ansaldo-Kanematsu and Mitsui-Siemen, passed the criteria for technical evaluation.

On the other hand, the DOTC has reportedly registered strong objections to the suggestion of the NEDA to lower the passing mark since 70 percent was the one approved by the Japanese Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) which is bankrolling the project.

To further pave the way for the re-entry of the two losing bidders, Medalla also reportedly urged the DOTC conduct a clarification meeting with the disqualified bidders.

In this way, the bidders will have the chance to submit annexed documents to their technical proposal to make them qualified.

But applicable laws such as PD1954 and under the JBIC's own rules and guidelines, submission of additional documents after the bids have been submitted is not allowed and therefore illegal.

Medalla has reportedly justified his actions by saying that JBIC was not satisfied with only two qualified companies and JBIC would stop all loans to the Philippines if more Japanese bidders were not included in the pre-qualified list.

"If this is true, then JBIC may be accused of dirtying its finger in the direct interference of our national sovereignty," a NEDA official said.

A senior Palace official, who declined to be identified, however does not believe this.

On the contrary, he said the JBIC recently approved the funding of P13 billion to fund government projects, one of which is the 2nd phase of LRT 1 capacity expansion.

"I wonder if JBIC knows about this. These officials are putting the name of JBIC in a very bad light. It looks now as JBIC is the manipulator of projects they are funding when in fact they are not," he said.

"This is not the way JBIC the way JBIC wants itself to be seen by the international community," the official said.

The same LRT project went through a similar bidding anomaly in the early part of 1998. This was disclosed by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile in a privilege speech denouncing the anomalous conduct of the bidding process where some conditions were tailor-made to favor certain Japanese bidders.

This anomalous conduct was promptly corrected by the Estrada administration when it assumed power in July, 1998.