Alyana Vee E.

Vigor

MPM 2014-92870

PROCUREMENT PROCESS OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF CAGAYAN DE ORO

I. BAC Committee

The procurement process of the city government of Cagayan de Oro is handled by

the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the city. The citys BAC is composed of six
(6) committee members, and amongst those members one is assigned as the
committee chair and one as vice chair. The members of the BAC are appointed by
the incumbent city mayor with consideration of the office, years of service and
position of the nominee. This process of selection spearheaded by the city mayor is
made in order to hasten the process and ensure that there is a good communication
between the office of the city mayor and the BAC as the mayor is considered as the
project director in all developments in the city; or the final approving officer of the
projects proposed in the city. If such process were not devised in such way, politics
may overrule and deliverability of projects may be put at risk; if opposing political
parties were assigned in the BAC. However, there is still a check and balance
system as all approved procurements must be acted based on budget and to which
budget is approved by the city councilors regardless of their political affiliations.

The current set-up of the citys BAC Committee is as follows:

Budget Office

Chair

Office of the
Treasurer
Vice Chair

CSWD (City CGSO (City

Social Welfare Goods and Legal Engineering
and Services Department Department
Development) Offices)
Member Member Member Member

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II. BAC Sub-units

There are BAC sub units such as the BAC Secretariat who acts the secretaries of the
BAC, keepers of the minutes of pre-bidding, bidding, contracts and all other files and
documents in relation to procurement. The Head of the BAC Secretariat is appointed
by the BAC. Currently, the Head of Secretariat is from the City Goods and Services
Offices (CGSO).

Also, BAC has a Technical Working Group which checks the validity, authenticity and
completeness of all documents of the participants of bidding. They are composed of
4 members and are involved in the post qualification process stated therein and
recommends to the office of the city mayor the list of qualified bidders for selection.

III. Annual Procurement Plan

The annual procurements plan in the city government of Cagayan de Oro is secured
as follows:

Compilati
on
Approval
Preparatio
n

Each unit prepares a Project Procurement Management Plan (PPMP) and is then
submitted to the Budget Office for the approval of the PPMP and submits to the city
council for deliberation and approval of the final procurement budget. Once it has
been approved, the BAC Secretariat compiles all the approved PPMP from the units.

IV. Bidding process and Awarding of Contracts

The bidding process and awarding of contracts are as follows:

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 Issuance of
Pre-
Approval Notice of
procurement
award

Invitation to Recommenidi Signing of

bidders ng approval Contract

Opening of Notice to
Resolution
Bidding proceed

Pre- Notice to post Execution of

qualification qualifiaction contract

The planning of the bidding process is the initial step in the process. This is one of
the most crucial steps in the whole process. After the planning, BAC will post
invitation to bidders through the government portal of Phil GEPS, City Hall, and all
conspicuous places and newspapers. If no bidder confirms, the date and place of
bidding process will be moved to a later date, however, if bidders confirm the
opening of the bidding commences. BAC will check all the requirements submitted
by the bidders and checks the prices submitted if it is within budget to which bidders
will pay a bidding fee. After which, BAC will forward it to the Technical Working Group
for post qualification checking. The Technical Working Group (TWG) would then post
a notice of post qualification which will be the basis for the resolution which indicates
the amount submitted by the bidders and the amount computed by BAC; it then
reflects the lowest bidder which will be subject for recommendation. The TWG then
sends its recommendation approval to the city mayor for final approval. If approved,
a notice of award shall be issued to the winning bidder and shall be forwarded with
certain requirements to be accomplished by the bidder. Once all documents are in
place, signing of contract takes place and a notice to proceed shall be issued. And
lastly, the execution of the contract takes place.

V. Alternative Methods of Procurement

The city government has an alternative method of procurement in the form of small
of small value. All they need to do is to shop for 3 quotations and forward it to BAC
wherein a resolution from BAC will be issued, which serves as a recommending
approval to the mayor. Once approved by the mayor, the purchase order for the
goods shall take place.

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 However, this alternative method is not applicable to infrastructure projects in the
city. The city is currently devising an alternative method in order to hasten the
deliverability of the project.

VI. Analysis

There are three usual problems that are encountered by the city government in their
procurement process. First is on problematic bidders. Bidders become problematic
when bidders for the procurement are located outside of the city or as far as Luzon,
considering that the city is in Mindanao. Deliverability would sometime be the main
issue if the location is far away. Concerns are at time not being responsibility
immediately due to location differences.

Secondly, the planning of the budget at times gets stuck up at the city council due to
political reasons. Therefore, execution and deliverability are being expended if the
problem pursues.

Lastly, the quorum of bidding and BAC meeting also becomes a problem as biddings
and meeting are being moved to a later date and therefore the deliverability of the
project would extend and therefore the goods and services that should have been
delivered on time to the public would be delayed.

In terms of documentation, the city government of Cagayan de Oro is in line with the
implementing rules and regulations of RA 9184. In as much as to the actual practice,
the researcher could not be able to get concrete resources from the interviewee that
it is indeed being followed in the actual process. All problems and associated in the
bidding process is being addressed by RA 9184 to which an amendment of its
implementing rules and regulations were provided last August 2016.

Procurement through bidding process is more problematic on infrastructure

development and projects if there is only one bidder. The costs of bidding may be
one of the reasons why bidders are not actively participating in public biddings most
especially as for businessmen, undergoing the bidding process will guarantee them
that the cost they expended would be capitalized back to them.

VII. Recommendation

It is highly recommended that the city of Cagayan de Oro be provided with

procurement software which is similarly used by government agencies like the
Department of Agriculture in order to hasten the procurement process and at the
same time lessen paper documentation. With this, documentation will be more
organized. The city government may then provide for a cold-site back-up in cases of
fire and other fortuitous event that may lead to loss of documentation and trail.

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 Furthermore, the city government must devise an alternative form of procurement for
infrastructure purpose. It may consider the negotiated procurement-adjacent or
contiguous; such alternative is applicable for infrastructure or consulting services.
Also, negotiated community participation may be an option for simple infrastructure
projects which would hasten project deliverability and would help in achieving
specific social objectives. Thresholds are provided for by the Government
Procurement Policy Board (GPPB). (Government PRocurement Policy Board -
Technical Support Office, 2016)

REFERENCE:

Catalua, R.E. (2016, November 5). Personal interview.

Lapoot, M.C.B. (2016, November 5). Personal interview.

Government Procurement Policy Board - Technical Support Office. (2016, August 16).
Alternatice Methods of Procurement. Retrieved November 7, 2016, from
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B7lxlFEuHLxrSHBGVDFaOUlJMDA

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