Negros Occ prov'l official denies anomaly in bidding

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines  — Provincial Budget Officer Jose Percival Salado has denied allegations of an anomalous public bidding for the construction of the P450-million NEGROS FIRST Cyber Center amid speculations that the Provincial Capitol is favoring a contractor.

In December, the Pre-qualification, Bids, and Awards Committee, chaired by Salado, declared the joint venture of the Quezon City-based E.M. Cuerpo Inc. and Yanson-owned Dynamic Builders and Construction Company Inc. the winning bidder for its P449,873,520.20 tender.

Salado said 31 contractors submitted letters of intent but only one, the Cuerpo-Dynamic joint venture, was able to purchase bidding documents that cost P2.25 million.

He said the amount charged for the bidding documents is 0.5 percent of the approved budget for contract, based on the ordinance that sets such requirement for building projects.

The same rate was applied to other projects but since the Cyber Center has a big budget, the cost of the bidding documents was also high, said Salado.

Salado however explained that the winning bidder will still have to undergo a post-qualification process and if Cuerpo-Dynamic will not qualify, the PBAC will conduct a re-bidding.

Salado also brushed aside allegations that PBAC has been favoring Dynamic Builders, which has been the contractor also of several infrastructure projects of the provincial government. This company also lost the biddings for other smaller projects, particularly those below P10 million, he said.

Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., for his part, earlier said the bidding for the project was aboveboard, adding that notices of the bidding were published in newspapers.

The Cyber Center will be a three-storey mixed-use structure that will be constructed at the Paglaum Sports Complex.

The provincial government took a loan of P450-million from the Development Bank of the Philippines to fund the project. Based on estimates, the provincial government is expected to earn P527 million for rentals alone within a 10-year period.