“AT LAST!” President Arroyo's sigh of relief was very audible, Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado said, when he gave her a copy of the invitation to apply for eligibility and to bid for the Panglao Bohol Airport Development Project (PBIADP) Phase 1 Construction – for publication in a newspaper of national circulation. .Aumentado who had accompanied a trade mission from Jiangxi , China led by Vice Gov. Hong Le He on a courtesy call on the President in Malacañang quoted her as saying that with the publication ready, “the long wait is over.” The governor said he and the President had expected that the notice would be published last Friday. The notice found print in Saturday's National Classifieds of the Philippine Daily Inquirer – on page M-3. In a text message to Aumentado, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Alfonso Cusi explained that the notice merely failed to beat the publication deadline for Friday. It was also published in the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) of the Department of Budget and Management's (DBM) Procurement Service. The PhilGEPS is the central portal of all public procurement activities that provides both government agencies and suppliers a more open, transparent and competitive environment.

MIAA Assistant General Manager Roberto Uy who chairs the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) had given to Aumentado the President's copy during their meeting the day before. The Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) stands at P1.52 billion. As general requirements, prospective bidders need to have facilities for the engineer and employer; site office, accommodations, laboratory, engineer's assistants; project vehicles to include a minimum of five four-wheel drives, one sedan, one minibus, and five motorcycles, plus survey equipment. The civil works involve the clearing and grubbing of 200 hectares of land; excavation of one million cubic meters (cu. m.); embankment of 900,000 cu. m.; and construction of 14 kilometers of drainage system. The contract gives the winning bidder 29 calendar months to execute the works and 12 calendar months as defect liability period. The bidding will be open to qualified local and foreign interested parties, and competitive, using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Amended Implementing Rules and Regulations (A-IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Interested bidders may obtain further information and inspect the bidding documents at the BAC Secretariat at the 4th floor of the MIAA Administration Building , MIA Road , Pasay City, during regular office hours. It may also be downloaded from the website of the PhilGEPS and MIAA, provided that the contractors shall pay the non-refundable fee for the bidding documents not later than the submission of their bids. Bid documents will be issued from December 3 until January 29, during regular office hours. The pre-bid conference will be on December 14 at 4 p.m. at the MIAA Audio Visual Room while submission of the bids, including eligibility requirements, will be only until 3:30 p.m. on January 25 at the BAC Secretariat Office. Opening of the bids will be at 4 p.m. on January 25. (with reports By JUNE S. BLANCO)