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Friday, May 04, 2007
Convention center cost: P581 million
By Jeanette P. Malinao
CEBU CITY -- The Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) costs the Province P581 million, which is less than the P637-million total allocation for the project, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia reported Thursday.
The amount includes not just the building but every item such as landscaping, carpets, elevators, escalators, generator sets and others.
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Citing the “Construction Cost Handbook Philippines 2006” authored by Davis Langdon and Seah, an international company that produces regular publications on cost and other statistical data related to the construction industry, Garcia said average standard cost for such buildings would be P1.17 billion.
Comparing the CICC with similar facilities such as the Ilocos Norte Hotel and Convention Center and the Negros Oriental Hotel and Convention Center, Garcia also said the CICC has a smaller cost per square meter of work, at P22,625.18.
That of Ilocos costs P28,167.73 per square meter. While the one in Dumaguete City costs only P19,446 per square meter, Garcia said it does not have elevators, escalators, helipad, generator set, close-circuit television and public address system, among others.
“So, is this a crime of plunder or slander?” Garcia asked her audience of local officials and representatives from the business sector and non-government organizations.
Businessman Crisologo Saavedra has filed a plunder complaint against Garcia and nine other Capitol officials with the Visayas anti-graft office in connection with the CICC construction.
Saavedra, who was not invited to Thursday’s presentation, alleged in letter-complaint that plunder was committed through misappropriation, misuse, or malversation of public funds.
The center in Ilocos is expected to be finished in two years while that of Dumaguete in 14 months. The CICC, which was one of the venues of the Asean and East Asia summits last January, was completed in eight months.
The governor also denied there was any irregularity in the transactions.
She said bidding was done on the project, the first phase of which was the work on substructure wherein WT Construction won.
At that time, the Capitol had to conduct the bidding even if it was still drawing up the plans for the superstructure because it was pressed for time and had to start work immediately.
Because the plan of work for the superstructure had yet to be made, Garcia said they could not be accused of splitting a contract because no contract could be made yet for the superstructure in the first place.
She pointed out that they had announced through media every step they were taking for the CICC, so she wondered why no one ever bothered to file a complaint right then.
As for the eventual awarding of the contract for superstructure to WT, Garcia said negotiated procurement is allowed under the Government Procurement Act or Republic Act 9184.
She cited Section 48, which allows this as alternative method, “where subject contract is adjacent or contiguous, provided that the original contract is a result of a competitive bidding.”
Garcia said work on substructure and superstructure is contiguous, and the original contract for WT is a result of bidding.
She showed copies of newspaper clippings of their invitations to bid for that contract, as well as for the rest.
As for the limited source or selective bidding done for some contracts, she said Section 48 of RA 9184 also allows this “for economy and efficiency.”
The law states that the procuring agency can make a direct invitation to bid “from a set of pre-selected suppliers with known experience and proven capability relative to the requirements of the contract.”
The selective bidding helped the time-pressed Capitol by dealing directly with suppliers, it also saved the Province some money, she said.
As example, she cited the P12.5-million contract for the generator set, which is lower than the approved budget of P16 million. The elevators and escalators’ approved budget estimate was P11 million but the Capitol got the items for P7.2 million.
Had the Capitol given these to WT Construction so they will have “one contract,” WT would have contacted the suppliers anyway and in the process would have to add on indirect costs and will profit with the purchase.
Saavedra’s accusation of illegal variations is also not true, Garcia said.
The foundation work for the center was revised, she admitted, but only to cut time, cut costs and shift to a more environment-friendly process.
The Capitol has even saved P24 million from the changes, she stressed. She explained that the approved budget for WT’s work on the original foundation work was P100 million, of which WT’s winning bid was P84,487,185.
But with the revision to concrete piles, the Capitol spent only P59,611,997, or with a savings of P24,875,187 because they did not have to do the original planned excavation and were able to let go of some concrete requirements. (Sun.Star Cebu)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (May 4, 2007 issue)
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