THE restoration of around 17 schools that were damaged during the onslaught of Typhoon Odette in Mandaue City might be put on hold.

This after City Councilor Joel Seno had withdrawn his vote for the contract signing for school rehabilitation during the Council's regular session on Monday, February 20, 2023.

Seno questioned the legality of the schools' repairs, which are under negotiated procurement (emergency purchase).

He stressed that some were already about 90 percent complete without a contract between the project contractor and the City Government.

Seno cited that under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Policy Board under section 53 of the negotiated procurement, contractors may skip the bidding but not the awarding of contract for the project involved before starting their work.

The city councilor demanded for justification from fellow councilors and advised them to follow due process and not to put the City Government in "hot waters" later.

"We should have the legal opinion first of the City Legal Office prior to the approval and the ratification of the contract because that is not in accord with what is established. We understand, but that is the kind of reason that we will put our heads on the line if we do away with some things that will put us in hot waters," said Seno.

For his part, Subangdaku Barangay Captain and Association of the Barangay Councils president Ernie Manatad, chairman of the Committee on Laws and Ordinances, said that the project contractors took the risk in implementing the projects based on their scope of work and the document bidding to meet the urgency for the execution of contract.

He said the projects were expedited to accommodate the opening of face-to-face classes in August 2022.

"These are actually the contractors' risks because they are the ones investing. It is their own mobilization without the intervention of the government. They could only get the funding if they already had the contract. There is no law that prohibits them. It is actually to our advantage," said Manatad.

Manatad also said that this was not the first time the incident had happened, and the process of releasing contracts first is done just for formality purposes.

He said the contracts had already been drafted and endorsed to the City Council for approval before it will be signed by Mayor Jonas Cortes. (HIC)