ONLY ONE BIDDER FOR CAPITOL’S P84-M PARKING BUILDING

A private construction firm based in Barangay Cansojong, Talisay City is the lone bidder for the Provincial Capitol’s four-level steel car parking structure.

In an interview on Monday, Feb. 11, Jone Sepe, bids and awards vice chairman and the Provincial General Services Office chief, said Tuanzon Construction Inc. posted a bid price of P83.99 million, or nearly P500,000 lower than the project’s approved budget contract (ABC) of P84.49 million.

“Tuanzon was able to submit all the documents and its bid price is lower than the ABC. At the pre-bidding stage, three contractors expressed interest but during the opening of bids, only one showed up. For now, there’s only one complying bidder,” he said.

The post-qualification review will run for seven days.

Sepe explained that Tuanzon was subjected to a post-qualification not because it was the lone contractor that attended the bidding proper, but because the firm was responsive and was able to provide the necessary legal and technical documents.

The multi-level parking structure, which will have a gross floor area of 3,342 square meters, will be able to accommodate 96 cars.

The winning bidder will have 225 calendar days to construct the car parking facility within the Capitol compound.

Meanwhile, whistleblower Crisologo Saavedra filed an amended supplemental complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas Tuesday morning, Feb. 12, against Gov. Hilario Davide III, 10 other Capitol officials and officials of WT Construction Inc. over the P1.3-billion Provincial Resource Center’s allegedly anomalous bidding process.

Last Jan. 28, Saavedra asked the anti-graft office to investigate the matter and impose a six-month preventive suspension on Davide and 10 other Capitol officials.

In his supplemental complaint, Saavedra lamented that despite asking for an investigation, the respondents, “without hesitation, delicadeza and respect for the law, signed the contract for the project.”

“A public servant like him should be barred from servicing the public for life,” his complaint read.

The groundbreaking is scheduled on Monday, Feb. 18. /