In principle solicited and unsolicited proposals, go through the same competitive process; the essence of which is to select the most advantageous offer to the Government in a rational and objective manner. Hence for tenders to be transparent and successful, the bid terms and conditions and the bid evaluation criteria must be clear and consistently applied. Process flow wise, the BOT Law IRR stipulates the steps, timeline and bid requirements; as well as safeguards to ensure that potential bidders are given equal opportunities and equal access to information, and are bound by the same timeline so that no one is given undue advantage over another bidder. The procurement process is discussed in more depth in chapter 4 of this volume.
The competition process is handled by the LGU's Prequalification, Bids, and Awards Committee (PBAC). As provided in the IRR of RA 7718, LGUs are required to create a PBAC for PPP projects. The PBAC is responsible for all aspects of the pre-bidding and bidding process of solicited proposals. In particular, it will prepare the tender documents and bid evaluation criteria, as well as manage the process from publication to contract award.
This chapter is complemented by Technical Notes 3, which provides sample PBAC assessment forms, particularly on prequalification and technical evaluation.
In the case of unsolicited proposals, the PBAC is responsible for conducting the Swiss challenge, which is the same in scope as the competitive process but with shorter timelines. The prescribed composition of the PBAC is shown in Box 2-1.
Box 2-1: The Composition of the PBAC
Under Rule 3, Section 3.1 IRR of the RA 7718 Chairman: at least a third ranking regular official of the LGU Secretary and member: Legal Officer Voting, non-voting and provisional members: ● One technical officer knowledgeable with the technical aspects and requirements of the project, duly designated by the LCE on a project-to-project basis (provisional) ● One technical officer knowledgeable with the requirements of the project from a concerned regulatory body, who is to be invited by the concerned LGU on a project-to-project basis (provisional and non-voting) ● One officer knowledgeable in finance (member) ● One officer knowledgeable in the management and operation of the project (member) ● Two representatives from the private sector: one from a duly-recognized Contractors association and the other from either the facility users or a duly-recognized accounting association (observers and non-voting) ● One representative from the Commission on Audit (observer and non-voting) ● One representative from the PPP Center for national projects (observer and non-voting), in accordance with Section 2.7 (a) ● One representative from the local DILG office for LGU projects (observer and non-voting) |