Palace: Swiss challenge for big gov’t projects legal

DAVAO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to place big-ticket government projects under the Swiss challenge system was legal, Malacañang said on Sunday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told the Inquirer by text message that the President’s statement — that the bidding process should be eliminated for public works because it had only caused delays in the completion of government projects and bred corruption — was supported by the Build-Operate-?Transfer (BOT) law.

Under the BOT law, or Republic Act No. 6957, the national government can enter into a public-private partnership for flagship infrastructure projects to speed up their construction. The bidding process is not required under this arrangement.

Upon his return from India on Saturday, Mr. Duterte said he favored the Swiss challenge over the bidding process provided under the current procurement law, which favored the lowest bidder.

Mr. Duterte said that in most cases, the bidding process under the procurement law was rigged — leaving the project substandard or even unfinished.