We can always cook up as many speculation as we can now that it is election time.
But when a project has been pushed for bidding since last year and it's only at this time when the bidding schedule is implemented, I cannot agree with Mr. Neal Cruz in calling it a "midnight deal." A midnight deal is one that just comes out from nowhere. The Panglao Airport project has been planned and replanned since twenty years ago.
We have to qualify, and not generalize, when implementation of projects should be prohibited during the election period, or close to it. Situations like this are governed by law. The ban on projects are covered by specific timeframes. When the project has been ongoing, it can continue even after the start of the ban (March 26,2010). When the projected is awarded before the ban, it can also continue even during the election period. Life-saving projects and those which are intended to prevent loss of life or damage to property can even be implemented during the election period when the COMELEC approves it.
On the matter of the bid amount of the bidders, there are two ways of looking at it. Either the bid is too high (under R.A. 9184, the only requirements is that the bid should not exceed the appoved budget of the contract), or it is too low that the estimate is not sufficient to complete the project according to its program of work.
In our common and usual human experience, two heads are better than one. The majority view is usually nearer to the truth. When majority of the qualified bidders placed their bids above the P1 Billion mark, what can we say about the bidder whose estimate is too low compared to the others? Can it get the job done?
As I See It (with due apologies to Mr. Cruz), the bidding appears competitive. Just look at the range and differences of the bid amount. The government sets the ceiling (the ABC). The BAC of the MIAA has plenty to choose which of the bidders within the mid range could be awarded the project. Remember, under our bidding law, the project is awarded not to the lowest bidder per se but to the lowest calculated responsive bid.
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