Bidders for DOTr projects now required to transact via e-mail

Bidders seeking to work with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) are now required to file their bids and other correspondences via e-mail, the agency announced on Saturday.

DOTr Order No. 2017-017 will facilitate and automate procurement processes in keeping with the revised implementing rules and regulations of the Government Procurement Act, said Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade in a news release.

However, procurement activities that started before the new guidelines were implemented will continue to transact manually.

The new order requires prospective bidders to register their or their authorized representatives' business e-mail addresses, through which they will be contacted by the DOTr's Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Secretariat, which will in turn set up an official e-mail of its own.

All written communications and correspondences, such as requests for clarification, for the signing of contract, to submit performance bond, as well as notices like BAC meetings, single/lowest calculated bidder, submission of post-qualification documents, awards of contracts and notices to proceed are now required to be coursed through electronic means.

Tugade in the news release noted that filing procurement-related documents electronically will not only encourage the participation of bidders but will also "foster a fast, free, convenient and secure bidding procedure."

The guidelines of the procurement law were revised in 2016.

The Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) serves as the primary electronic portal containing information on government procurement. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/MDM, GMA News