Procurement of P5.98-B aircraft won’t be delayed – DND

MANILA, Philippines - Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo believes failure in the bidding for two long-range patrol aircraft would not delay their procurement.

“Actually, the submission and opening of bids for the second stage will still be in November,” he said.

The bidding for the two aircraft worth P5.98 billion will be done in two stages.

The first stage involves the evaluation of eligibility and technical documents, while the second assesses financial offers.

The bidding for the first stage failed last Aug. 11 as bidders were unable to satisfy the requirements set by the defense department.

The Special Bids and Awards Committee 1 (SBAC-1) declared a failed bidding after reviewing bid documents for almost 12 hours.

The bidders were given the opportunity to file a motion to reverse the committee’s decision declaring them as ineligible.

The SBAC-1 will meet to decide on the motions.

If SBAC-1 upholds its decision to disqualify the bidders, it has to schedule another bidding for the first stage of the project.

If necessary, the re-bidding may be held in September, Manalo said.

Officials believe they can still complete the first stage of the bidding before November.

Seven companies have submitted bids for the project.

The aircraft manufacturers that submitted bids were EADS/CASA Airbus Defense and Space of Spain; Elta Systems Ltd. and Elbit Systems Ltd., both from Israel; Saab Asia Pacific Co. Ltd. of Sweden; PT Dirgantara Indonesia (Persero) Indonesian Aerospace of Indonesia; Lockheed Martin and L3 Mission Integration, both from the US.

Of the seven bidders, only Elta Systems Ltd. and Elbit Systems Ltd. satisfied the eligibility requirements. The other bidders had deficiencies in their eligibility documents, including failure to present a list of completed contracts similar to the long-range patrol project.

However, Elta and Elbit failed to hurdle the next phase of the bidding, which involves the technical aspects of the aircraft.

Manalo said: “Both proponents did not include in their proposal the fast-moving items and consumables in the list of minimum deliverables.”

The funding for the air assets will come from the Revised Armed Forces Modernization Program signed by President Aquino in 2012.