Cebu favors ‘Swiss challenge system’ for big-ticket projects

CEBU CITY - Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III said he agreed with President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to implement all government projects through the socalled “Swiss challenge system.”

Duterte announced his plan to scrap the bidding process for government projects because it causes delays in the completion and breeds corruption. According to Davide, the Swiss challenge system would make the work of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) a lot easier, especially if it concerns big-ticket government projects.

Under the Swiss challenge system, unsolicited bids for a government project from a private firm can be matched or improved by third parties, whose proposals can also be countered by the original proponent with a better offer in return.

Davide said the Swiss Challenge was much better compared to the bidding process provided under the current procurement law, which was a much longer process - from inviting bidders through publication, holding a pre-bidding conference, and checking the financial capabilities of the contractors or suppliers.

The process would even go much further should a failure of bidding occur, the governor added.

The procurement law, Davide said, also needed to be reviewed to shorten the process and not to necessarily favor the lowest bidder, who in most cases left the government with a substandard project or uncompleted.