“BIDDING OF CAPITOL’S SECURITY AGENCY ALL WITHIN LAW’S PROCESSES”- DAVNOR BAC

JAN 6-12, 2011

The choosing of the security agency that is manning the Davao del Norte Capitol complex now has passed the rigid scrutiny and requirements based on government’s procurement law and its processes, said Samson “Sammy” Sanchez, chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee  (BAC) of the provincial government.

In an interview, Sanchez squelched running speculations that there was much haste in the bidding and awarding of the private security services won by a Quezon City-based Christian Investigation and Security Agency (CISA).

CISA’s guards have replaced the casual and contractual guards under the Capitol’s Civil Security Services (CSS) which was deactivated by Governor Rodolfo del Rosario before the end of last year as part of his cost-saving and public-private partnership programs.

Sanchez,, also the provincial general services officer, said that the provincial government has duly followed the bidding procedures and processes spelled out in Republic Act No. 9184 otherwise known as Government Procurement Reform Act.

“On November 16, 2010 there was a publication in the Manila Bulletin of the invitation to bid as well as its posting in the PhilGEPS (Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System) website and bulletin boards in conspicuous places in the Capitol. On December 7, 2010 there was a pre-bidding conference and 8 bidders bought bidding forms at P2,000 each set.  On December 20, 2010 at 2 P.M. there was an opening of bids,” he bared.

He added that on the Dec. 20 bidding the bids were scrutinized by the BAC which disqualified 4 of the 6 bidders for failing to fully comply with the eligibility and technical requirements.

Approved to have fully complied with the BAC requirements were CISA and the Butuan City-based United Field Sea Watchman and Checkers Agency (UFSWCA). 

Sanchez added that actually UFSWCA was declared by BAC as having the “Lowest Calculated Bid”.

On the same Dec. 20 the BAC, he added, sent UFSWCA to submit within three calendar days the final requirements so it could have comply to have the “Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid”.

But UFSWCA failed to submit within the BAC timetable on December 20 to December 23 which were not holidays, Sanchez said.

“So based on RA 9184, necessarily we have to send communication to the next lowest bidder, which is CISA, and in the morning of December 28, CISA submitted the final requirements making it to have the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid,” he added.

On the same Dec, 28 the Technical Working Group of the BAC first scrutinized all of the requirements submitted by CISA and forwarded its positive recommendations to the BAC which in turn recommended to Governor Rodolfo del Rosario to act positively.

“With these procedures and with the ending of services of civil security non-permanent personnel by December 31, 2010, we can’t afford to have a vacuum in the security services, so that effective January 1, 2011 the CISA’s security guards have to start securing the Capitol,” Sanchez added.

CISA offered a bid of P6.3 million worth of security services for the whole year of 2011.  The annual budget allocated P8 million for the security services.

For that amount, CISA has deployed 38 security guards including one supervisor securing on three shifts the Capitol complex, three provincial government-run hospitals in Carmen, Kapalong and Igacos.

Under RA 9184, security services fall under the procurement category of “goods” just like the contractor services and consultancy services.

Early November Gov.DelRosarioannounced he would be abolishing the CSS and would tap instead a private security agency.

Affected were some 60 security personnel holding casual and job order appointments whose renewable six-month contracts expired last December 31.

Those 17 permanent security personnel have been transferred to various departments while a part of contractual and job order personnel would have to be re-hired in special programs and projects of the province per pledge of the governor.

Earlier, provincial administrator Rufo Peligro said that the hiring of private security agency would save the provincial government at least P4 million annually.

The governor also bared earlier that the deactivation of the civill security services would contribute amounts for the annual salary increases of permanent personnel and comply with the 45-percent ceiling on personnel services (PS) of the provincial government. (cha monforte)