Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque hold a press briefing with and Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. on the sidelines of the Dinagyang Festival on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (Photo from an RTVM video)
ILOILO CITY — Claiming that there was no “honest-to-goodness bidding” in government projects, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque defended President Rodrigo Duterte on the elimination of competitive public bidding in government projects.
But Roque said there was no need for the President to issue an executive order mandating the use of the Swiss challenge system in the implementation of awarding government projects as this would only apply to “big ticket” projects.
Roque said the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law is the basis for adopting the Swiss challenge system.
Under the Swiss challenge system, unsolicited proposals for a project from a private firm can be matched or improved by third parties. The original proponent can counter the proposal or also offer an improved one.
The President earlier said the he would to scrap the bidding process for government projects claiming that these caused delays in the project completion and bred corruption.
“Let’s just say the President has had it with continuous corruption in government contracts,” Roque said on Sunday during a press briefing conducted on the sidelines of the Dinagyang Festival.
“Please remember that the President for almost three decades was a mayor, was three-term congressman,” he added. “Alam naman niya iyong hocus-pocus na nangyayari diyan sa mga government bidding na ‘yan. Sa totoo lang kaya may ‘tongpats’, kasi wala namang honest-to-goodness bidding na nangyayari. Kasi kung talagang may lowest bidder diyan, walang kita.”
[He knows the hocos-pocus that happens in government biddings. In reality, there is overpricing because there is no honest-to-goodness bidding. No one earns, if there is really a lowest bidder.]
But Roque said the Swiss challenge system is being applied to the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Marawi City.
“The President is exploring an alternative that is still lawful. And if it proves to be better than the current system, he will move at the right time for the [government procurement law] to be amended,” Roque said. /atm