PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — A councilor here has called the attention of the City Engineering Office (CEO) for allegedly failing to know about a Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA) provision that bans erring road project contractors from future biddings.
Sangguniang Panlungsod Councilor Jimbo Maristela on Monday told engineers of the city government that the Act is there and provides for the perpetual disqualification of contractors who will fail to repair defective road projects within 90 days.
“We expect that they know about this,” said Maristela, referring to Section 62 of the GPRA (Republic Act 9184).
Maristela was exasperated after CEO Assistant Engineer Aries Grande answered he could not remember the provision in law when he was asked to attend the session.
Grande said six contractors had already been notified by the Commission on Audit (COA) for undertaking 11 road projects worth PH218.3 million in Puerto Princesa which are defective.
He said that it is the COA that will undertake actions against them after certifying that the projects are 100 percent completed, conformed to standards, and have been accepted.
“They passed through us and we certified that they followed standards; we have no authority to blacklist them,” said Grande.
However, he added that they already wrote the contractors sometime this year to conduct repairs on the concerned road projects, but only half had responded.
Councilor Nesario Awat, however, argued that the CEO can endorse the blacklisting to Mayor Lucilo Bayron, based on the COA audit.
“Because of the law (RA 9148), you can recommend them to the city mayor for blacklisting. Even if they complied, but you’re not satisfied, you can likewise recommend them to be blacklisted,” he said.
Awat also suggested for the city government to request the COA to conduct another inspection after undertaking such repairs.
Councilor Jimmy Carbonell, meanwhile, said the blacklisting should be done because each of the contractors has at least two projects that turned out to be flawed.
“It’s believable that two projects are completed and whose resilience are 100 percent guaranteed. That’s okay, but if two projects are both defective, then that’s a problem,” he said.
Grande said that they will make the recommendation once the concerned contractors undertake no repairs within the 90-day period. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)
