THE Cebu City Council wants the executive department to hold in abeyance the rebidding for the construction of a new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).
The legislative body wants to know first why Mayor Michael Rama declared a failure the first bidding and what happened to the evaluation of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) on the second lowest bidder after the first bidder was disqualified.
In a privilege speech during the City Council’s regular session yesterday, Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. said he has many questions about the project.
“Why was there a declaration of a failure of bidding? We were waiting for the result on the evaluation of the second lowest bidder when it was declared failure of bidding.
Is this the recommendation of BAC? Has the second lowest bidder also submitted false documents? If they have, I, myself, will file a legislative intervention to blacklist these contractors in the future transactions. The council have to know,” he said.
The winning bidder-WTG Construction in consortium with Manila-based A.M. Oreta and Co.-was disqualified by the previous BAC over alleged inconsistencies in the bidding documents.
Evaluation
BAC is in the process of evaluating the second lowest bidder, SCDI General Construction, when the mayor announced that he wants another bidding for the project to “avoid or preclude any suspicion of favoritism and anomalies” on the project.
The mayor also recently reshuffled the members of the BAC.
Gabuya said the City Government cannot rebid yet the project because there are no funds yet to support it.
This, since the P300 million that the City has set aside in the first supplemental budget last year has been used to fund for the financial assistance of the senior citizens last December, while the remaining P300 million under this year’s annual budget is yet to be raised by the City Treasurer’s Office.
Gabuya then moved for the council to hold an executive session on Feb. 26 so the executive department and the members of the previous BAC can shed light on issues concerning the first bidding.
He also move for the BAC secretariat to submit to the council all documents on the declaration of the failure of bidding, the documents leading to the disqualification of the first lowest bidder and the evaluation report on the second lowest bidder.
Motion
Councilor Sisinio Andales then made a corollary motion to hold in abeyance the rebidding of the CCMC until the executive session will be conducted.
The City is building a new hospital since the old CCMC was demolished after sustaining heavy damaged from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in October 2013.