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Sunday, June 27, 2004
Lawsuit on flyover deal a lost case, says DPWH
By Allan I. Varquez
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
LEGAL Officer Agus-tinito Hermoso of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 dismissed as forum-shopping the complaint that WT Construction has filed against him and other public works officials before the anti-graft office.
The complaint accuses them of manipulating the bidding process for the P62-million second flyover on Archbishop Reyes Ave., Cebu City, which is now being constructed.
But Hermoso said that Branch 8 of the Regional Trial Court dismissed the same complaint filed by lawyer Makilito Mahinay last January, where WT asked for a temporary restraining order on the implementation of the project.
Requirements
He said the DPWH secretary did not give due course to the protest filed by WT Construction on the awarding of the project to WTG Construction, after the secretary received a report from DPWH 7.
Hermoso admitted that WT and Chiara Construction offered the lowest bid for the project, but they were dropped from the bidding process because they failed to comply with certain requirements for a joint venture.
WT has also filed a separate petition for a preliminary mandatory injunction before the Supreme Court to stop work on the flyover.
“I am confident the Supreme Court and Visayas Ombudsman will dismiss these petitions because a lower court has already rejected the case,” Hermoso said in a phone interview.
WT and Chiara Construction had offered the lowest bid of P52,770,947.79 as against WTG’s P61,995,000.
But because they were in a joint venture, they should have submitted a copy of their special license issued by the Philippine Contractors’ Accreditation Board, said Hermoso.
Besides, the bond the two firms submitted was in the form of a bidder’s bond instead of a surety bond.
Work on the second flyover started last May and is expected to be completed in November this year. The project is funded by Cebu City Rep. Raul del Mar’s share of the Countrywide Development Funds.
“We did not invent the bidding rules,” Her-moso said.
(June 27, 2004 issue)
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