Parañaque opens bidding for P101-M garbage contract

MANILA, Philippines - The Parañaque City government has invited companies to submit bids for its P101-million three-month garbage collection contract to prevent a repeat of the garbage pileup last July, a city official said yesterday.

City administrator Fernando Soriano told The STAR that at least three firms – IPM Group, Galaxy and Leonel Waste Management – have expressed their desire to participate in the bidding. The contract covers the garbage collection from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.

Soriano said he is not aware if the three firms have already paid the non-refundable P68,000 fee to join the bidding.

Sources, however, said other firms are having a hard time securing bid documents because the Bids and Awards Committee office is always closed.

Soriano said the city government entered into an emergency contract with Leonel to ensure the daily collection of garbage after the city’s contract with Corinthian Hauling expired last June 30.

The move has raised concerns among residents that the contract was a “done deal,” sources said.

Garbage heaps dotted the city’s roads in early July, prompting newly elected Mayor Edwin Olivarez to accuse Corinthian Hauling of stopping garbage collection two weeks before its contract expired.

According to city hall sources, an estimated 5,000 tons of garbage piled up in the city, whose 16 barangays generate an average of 362 tons of trash a day.

The sources said an average dump truck can only haul 3.25 tons of garbage per trip so it will take more than 100 trips to clear up the garbage generated by the city each day.