Only 1 firm bids for P276-M Navy craft

MANILA, Philippines - Only one proponent submitted a bid for the contract for the purchase of three units of Navy multi-purpose attack craft worth P276 million.

The joint venture by Manila-based Propmech Corp. and Subic-based Safehull Marine Technologies, Inc. offered to undertake the project for P268.9 million, lower than the government-approved budget for the contract.

Four firms bought bid documents for the project but three of these, Tactical Exchange & Security Solutions, Inc., R & LT Shipyard & Realty Development Corp., and Geneve S.A. Phils, Inc., did not submit bids.

Interested companies had until 10 a.m. yesterday to submit offers.

The Defense department’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) yesterday declared Propmech eligible to bid after examining its legal, technical and financial documents.

Propmech should satisfy the post qualification requirements before it can bag the contract.

 The post-qualification process seeks to validate the eligibility documents of the proponent and to determine if it is capable of undertaking the project.                                    

“We are confident (that we would satisfy the post qualification requirements). We have prepared for this and we are familiar with the project,” said Jon Osias, representative of Propmech during the opening of bids in Camp Aguinaldo.

Osias said their company had taken on five similar projects with the government.

Cmdr. Reynaldo Lopez, manager of the acquisition project, said they aim to conduct the post-qualification process within a week. He said a notice of award may be issued by yearend while the delivery of the ships may be made in January 2012.

Each ship can accommodate 16 persons and can be used to transport additional troops in conflict areas.

“I have personally worked with this type of ships and they are very effective. They’re effective in bringing in troops in areas where it is hard to land because they are infested by enemies,” Lopez said. 

“It has also the capability of interdicting hostile craft as it has at least one caliber 15 machine gun.”

Defense Assistant Secretary Ernesto Boac said the acquisition would also boost the government’s developmental initiatives.

“It (ship) will help develop the capability of the Navy, given the operational environment... Other than the insertion and extraction which is purely a military mission, it has also a capability for search and rescue,” said Boac, who also heads the BAC.

“It can also assist in national development efforts by way of providing security to our vital installations like the Malampaya project,” he added. 

The Navy has three multi-purpose attack craft in its inventory, two of which are in Western Mindanao while one is positioned at the Malampaya gas field in Palawan.