Filinvest Development Corp. stresses importance of observing bid rules

CEBU, Philippines - One of the bidders for the Mactan Cebu International Airport project stressed the importance of following bid rules.

In a statement sent to The Freeman, Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) President Josephine Gotianun Yap reiterated that bid rules are relevant and must be strictly followed.

"Bidding rules are relevant to the integrity of any and all bids. The MCIA Project bidding rules are very clear that a director or partner of a bidder, consortium member or any of its affiliates cannot, at the same time, be directly involved in any capacity in the bid of another bidder, consortium member or any of its affiliates. The bidding rules are very strict about this to ensure a level playing field and a competitive bidding process, and any violation would result in the disqualification of both bidders," Yap said.

Earlier this month, FDC pointed out to the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and MCIAA Pre-Qualification Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) what they called "conflict of interest" against the highest bidder, the GMR-Megawide Consortium.

FDC established that GMR Infrastructure Limited has been doing business with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), which is part of First Philippine Airports, another consortium that also submitted its own bid for the MCIA Project.

They added that should the post qualification review find that conflict of interest was actually violated, both questioned consortiums could be disqualified.

Should the highest bidder be dropped from the project, the next highest bidder will be considered and evaluated for qualifications.

Filinvest-CAI Consortium, to which FDC is a part of, is the second highest bidder for the MCIA Project.

"We participated in the MCIA bid because we had trust and confidence in the process and the fairness of the DOTC and MCIAA personnel behind the bid. We trust the PBAC will continue to show the same fairness and level playing field in the post-qualification stage of the bidding," Yap added in the statement. (FREEMAN)