Mejorada points out Iloilo Center violations to Senate

Former provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada. NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Former Iloilo Provincial Administrator Manuel Mejorada on Thursday insisted there were irregularities in the construction of the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) because the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Tourism allowed Hilmarc’s Construction Corp. to make changes in the design before it was awarded the contract.

In a memorandum to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, Mejorada said that allowing a contractor to make design changes through value engineering before the award was not allowed under the procurement law.

Mejorada has filed a plunder complaint against Senate President Franklin Drilon, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson and Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez for the alleged overpricing of the P700-million ICC.

The ICC is a pet project of Drilon, Mejorada’s political foe.

As part of a negotiated procurement, Hilmarc’s was one of two contractors required to submit proposals for the ICC that contained structural plans modified through value engineering. Value engineering entails adjusting the original materials and design to lower costs without changing functionality and architectural design.

Lower bid

Hilmarc’s was awarded the project after it submitted the lower bid of P479 million for the first phase of the project. Its modified plan was approved by the architecture firm W.V. Coscolluela and Associates, which came up with the original design for the ICC.

The use of its design for the ICC was a condition set by Megaworld, which donated the lot for the convention center.

The award of the ICC project was done through negotiated procurement after two failed biddings. The earlier biddings supposedly failed because contractors could not meet the approved budget or some requirements.

According to Mejorada, value engineering was not a mode of procurement but was a preprocurement activity.

Value engineering could only be allowed in the procurement stage when a “design and build” contract is involved, but this was not the case with the ICC, he said.

Value engineering

“Allowing Hilmarc’s to make design changes before the award in the guise of value engineering is not allowed by law or even the concept of value engineering, which is only available in the prebid stage,” he said.

He also alleged that Singson and Jimenez “distorted” the meaning of the law by using value engineering to hide their supposed illegal acts.

He contended that the two secretaries, with Drilon as “benefactor,” violated the principles of transparency and accountability.

Mejorada submitted the memorandum upon the directive of Blue Ribbon committee chair Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, who asked him to provide more information about value engineering.

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