Dumaguete Council oks CCTV project, but resorts to negotiated procurement

CEBU, Philippines — If everything goes smoothly as planned, Dumaguete City may, before the year ends, finally have its own closed circuit television (CCTV) camera system around the urban areas, but only via a negotiated procurement deal after two failed biddings.

The City Council last week unanimously voted to grant Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo the authority to procure a CCTV camera system, which will be leased by the city government from a successful bidder for eight years with a budget of P8.75 million per year.

Councilor Joe Kenneth Arbas, member of the peace and order committee, told The FREEMAN that, when approved, the provider will be installing up to 364 CCTV cameras all over the city. the bulk of which will be installed in the downtown area.

There are so far four companies that have showed interest in the project. The first bidding which was conducted on January 4, and the second bidding on May 22 however failed because no bid was received from interested bidders, prompting the city government to opt for a negotiated procurement, via a lease contract, pursuant to provisions of Republic Act 9184 or the revised procurement law.

The city government, the bids and awards committee and the technical working group also agreed to reduce the lease term from 10 years to eight years and to come up with a revised terms of reference under the same specifications.

The budget for the CCTV system was approved last December, with the leasing rate set at P7 million per year. To increase the rate so it becomes more attractive to bidders, Arbas said Remollo also augmented the amount with P1.75 million from his intelligence funds, which the Council earlier approved for re-alignment.

"Dili na siya moagi og usual nga bidding procedures nato nga maghulat ta nga naay mo-bid. Karon, everybody will be informed nga mao ni (P8.75 million) ang ceiling, everybody will offer something lower than that or far better ang specs," Arbas said.

He noted that the council first debated whether to buy or lease a CCTV system. It later opted to lease as it is more "practical," because the prospective provider would have the obligation to maintain and update the cameras, something the city government would be unable to do if it chose to buy.

Leasing will also give the city government the option to look for another supplier that can provide far better services once the first eight-year period ends. It is also the more affordable option, Arbas said, as the government can allocate a bigger part of its budget to other projects such as the renovation of roads and bridges in the city.

"Buying a CCTV system at P70 million would mean having to sacrifice other projects. And the mayor doesn't want to borrow money from the government because he might leave obligations to the next generations," he said.

Once the CCTV system is in place, a command center at the City Hall is also set to be established, pursuant to the proposed ordinances authored by Councilors Manuel Arbon, who proposed an information technology (IT) center, and Alan Gel Cordova, who proposed a public safety center.

Remollo said he hopes a company may finally be tapped for the CCTV project within this month so that the system may start installation, which may take up to six months. The installation of a traffic light system in the city may come "almost simultaneously" with the CCTV project because both systems use the same fiber optics technology. — Juancho R. Gallarde