G.R. No. 259992 - DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT PROCUREMENT SERVICE, VS. JAC AUTOMOBILE INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINES, INC..

Ruling

accordingly submitted their bid proposals. [8] Petitioner's Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) proceeded with the pre-qualification and post-qualification evaluation of the submitted bids as required under Republic Act No. 9184 [9] and its 2009 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). [10] For PB No. 14-122, the BAC's evaluation showed that respondent's bid was the lowest calculated responsive bid after the other bidders were post-disqualified. JV of Ad was disqualified as there were "differences in the signatures of the JV representative, use of old form, no attached proof of sale, differences in business name, no documentary support that the item offered is Diesel with DITC or TI." [11] China Dong was disqualified for failure to "establish proof of completed contracts, and that the signatory, while a member of the Board, was not included in the Secretary's Certificate." [12] JV of Autocirculo was disqualified for failure to comply with the requirement of certification issued by the manufacturer. [13] Likewise, for PB No. 15-018-2, the BAC's evaluation showed that respondent's bid was the lowest calculated responsive bid after the other bidders were post-disqualified. JV of Ad and JV of Autocirculo were disqualified based on the same reasons stated in PB No. 14-122. [14] Consequently, on July 24, 2015, the BAC issued the Notices of Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid to respondent for PB Nos. 14-122 and 15-018-2. The BAC also informed respondent that upon approval of the Head of the Procuring Entity (HOPE), a notice of award shall be issued, provided that there are no requests for reconsideration, or protests filed. [15] On September 4, 2015, then Executive Director Jose Tomas C. Syquia (ED Syquia), acting as HOPE, issued notices of cancellation for PB Nos. 14-122 and 15-018-2 (Lot No. 1) and stated that the projects for both public biddings are not economically and financially feasible, i.e., the project will not redound to the benefit of Government of the Philippines (GOP) given that [it] will spend more due to procedural deficiencies rather than on technical capability of the items to be procured . He further stated that the cancellations are done in accordance with Article XI, Section 41 [16] of the 2009 Revised IRR. [17] As clarified in his Resolutions, [18] ED Syquia declared that the BAC was not able to exhaust clarification procedures during the post-qualification stage that resulted in a failure to meet a key objective of public biddings, which is to ensure that bidders are disqualified because their products do not meet the technical requirements, or that their price is over the approved budget for the contract, or not the most advantageous. [19] Notably, however, ED Syquia issued a Notice of Award in favor of respondent on September 7, 2015, with respect to PB No. 15-018-2 (Lot No. 2) considering that no requests for reconsideration or protests were filed. [20] Respondent, through its representative, signed the Notice of Award as c