All five bidders for El Nido Port project fail PPA evaluation

THE PHILIPPINE Ports Authority (PPA) said the auction for an upgrade project at the Port of El Nido, Palawan was declared a failed bid following the disqualification of all five participants.

The bid was for the construction of a port operational area and the expansion of a pier. 

According to a Dec. 15 PPA resolution obtained by ����ý, General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago announced the disqualification of the five companies that submitted their technical and final proposals to take on the P128.3-million contract, initially announced on April 20.

The resolution had been approved and adopted by the members of the Bids and Awards Committee on Dec. 12.

The five participants were HG-III Construction and Development Corp., Sunwest Construction and Development Corp., Vicente T. Lao Construction, Khan Kon Chi Construction and Development Corp., and the joint venture (JV) of One Hundred Percent Construction and Development Corp. and Elimared Construction and Trading, Inc. 

The bid was conducted under the two-envelope system containing the bidders’ technical and financial proposals, with pass-or-fail criteria.

“During the opening of bids on May 12, the five bidders were declared ‘passing’ with the requirements of the first envelope,” the resolution noted.

The financial proposals of the five bidders were also declared “passing.”

Issues with the bids emerged during the bid evaluation on May 1. The Bids and Awards Committee found “discrepancies between the total bid prices and unit bid prices” of the JV of One Hundred Percent Construction and Development Corp. and Elimared Construction and Trading, Inc., Sunwest Construction and Development Corp., and HG-III Construction and Development Corp., according to the resolution.

“Deviation was found in the bid proposal of Vicente T. Lao Construction, (which) was declared ‘automatically disqualified’ for being non-responsive,” it noted.

According to the resolution, the JV of One Hundred Percent Construction and Development Corp. and Elimared Construction and Trading, Inc. was found to be the “lowest calculated bidder in the amount of P126,375,535.42.”

However, the JV was subsequently declared “post-disqualified” for failing to present the original copy of the certificate of completion and acceptance of its single largest completed contract, which is the proposed construction of the backup area and R.C. pier at Mabacong Port in Batangas City.

The resolution also said that the JV failed to present the original copies of the MARINA certificate of ownership and cargo ship safety certificate for the pledged Barge OHP-1 during the conduct of a post-qualification evaluation.

At the same time, it failed to present the original copies of the LTO original receipts/certificates of registration for the pledged two dump trucks and a cargo truck.

There was no request for reconsideration from the bidder within the time allowed, according to the resolution.

The PPA said it will re-bid the contract. — Arjay L. Balinbin