Ebdane threatens to suspend erring contractors

MANILA, Philippines – Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. warned contractors yesterday that bidders who violate procurement laws would all be suspended.

In a press statement, Ebdane said that the department is reviewing the cases of contractors who might have violated Republic Act no. 9184 or rules covering the Government Procurement Reform Act, and Department Order no. 35, series of 2008.

He said 216 firms were found to have violated bidding rules out of the 750 local contractors that were ordered to show cause why they should not be suspended from government infrastructure projects by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Ebdane said 60 contractors have already been slapped with a one-year suspension and the department will review the records of 156 other construction companies.

Asked whether more contractors will be added to the list of 60 contractors suspended earlier, Ebdane said: “Yes, we are still in the process of looking into the records because some of them have not responded to our letters requiring them to show cause why they should not be suspended.”

The DPWH has yet to set a date on when they would finalize and come out with their findings.

Ebdane said that majority of the contractors have made excuses to hamper the bidding, with the most popular excuse being that the projects were not profitable.

The other reasons were that the proposals were higher than the allowed Approved Budget Cost (ABC) or they had no engineering staff to prepare the bid, and some blamed heavy traffic on the way to the bidding site.