MANILA — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will disqualify prospective bidders with any pending cases against the government from participating on all of its bidding activities.
In a memorandum dated June 26, DOTr Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Procurement Reinier Paul Yebra said that all prospective bidders must submit a certification under oath that they have no pending cases against the government. This shall be included in the Bid Data Sheet of bidding documents for all projects of the department.
“Failure of a bidder to comply with the requirement or submission of a false certification shall constitute a ground for automatic disqualification,” Yebra said.
The initiative aims to ensure that all prospective bidders are properly screened to prevent opportunities for corruption in government in line with the procurement principles under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act for a streamlined bidding process.
“Common sense lang naman ‘yan. May kaso nga, may problema. Bakit mo naman hahayaan na kumita pa gamit ang pera ng taumbayan(That is common sense. If there’s a case, then there’s a problem. Why would you allow them to earn using taxpayer’s money?),” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.
“Prospective bidders who want to do business with government must have a clean record, and must have a history of good dealings with the government,” he added.
The disqualification of prospective bidders with pending cases against the government is one of the reforms being implemented by DOTr in an effort to promote good governance and transparency on its bidding and procurement processes.
Last year, Tugade has ordered the live streaming of the bidding process of all DOTr projects on its official Facebook page. He also required bidders working with DOTr to file their bids and other correspondences through e-mail. (DOTr PR)
