Palace defends Swiss challenge

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

ILOILO CITY—Claiming that there was “no honest-to-goodness bidding” in government projects, presidential spokes-person Harry Roque defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to eliminate competitive public bidding.

Roque also said there was no need for the President to issue an executive order mandating the use of the Swiss challenge in public bidding because this would only apply to “big-ticket projects.”

BOT Law is basis

The Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law will be the basis for the conduct of Swiss challenges, he said.

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 offer an improved one.

Mr. Duterte earlier said he wanted to scrap the bidding process for government projects because these caused delays in the project completion and bred corruption.

President has had it

“Let’s just say the President has had it with continuous corruption in government contracts. Please remember that the President for almost three decades was a mayor, was three-term congressman … He knows the hocus-pocus that happens in government biddings,” Roque said in a press conference on the sidelines of the Dinagyang Festival here on Sunday.

The Palace official also said that the Swiss challenge system would be applied initially to the reconstruction of 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.