Second phase of Iloilo Convention Center up for new bidding

The second phase of the controversial Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) is up for a new public bidding, with a higher approved budget for its contract.

 

In an invitation to bid published on its website last week, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said ICC completion works will now cost P188.6 million, up from the original cost of P187.6 million.

 

The project now involves the installation of "two units of passenger elevators and one of service elevators," which were not included in the original invitation to bid published last September.

 

The new bidding for the ICC's second phase was set on January 13. 

 

The ICC project was rocked by controversy last month, when Senate President Franklin Drilon was accused by his former staff member, ex-Iloilo Provincial Administrator Manuel Mejorada, of involvement in alleged overpricing of the convention center.

The ICC, a two-storey structure with a total floor area of 6,500 square meters and sits on 1.7 hectares of land, was funded by Drilon's discretionary funds.

 

In a Senate probe on the issue, Drilon said Mejorada's allegations were "baseless and speculative."

 

Canceled rebidding

 

Last November, the DPWH canceled a rebidding for the ICC's second phase, citing "a need to revisit the detailed engineering, which eventually result to a change in scope of work, and the approved budget for the contract."

 

In an interview with Panay News, DPWH Director for Region VI Edilberto Tayao said the rebidding had to be canceled to be able to finish the project in time for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meetings next year. 

 

Tayao also told the regional newspaper that the DPWH intends to "prioritize the construction of items inside the center" and “to set aside the construction of items outside the convention center" in the meantime.

 

The DPWH also projected a lower cost and a shorter construction time for the convention center after the revision of the project plan. 

 

The new invitation to bid, however, stated that the ICC's second phase is required to be finished in 150 calendar days, the same construction period projected by the DPWH in September.

 

Mejorada questions budget, timing

 

In a statement on Thursday, Mejorada questioned the bigger budget for the project.

 

“If you consider that the scope of works includes two passenger and one service elevators, then the increase in the ABC by just over P1 million will not make the budget bigger,” Mejorada said. 

“On the contrary, the budget will be tighter,” he added.

 

The former Iloilo official also raised suspicion over  the timing of the publication for the “invitation to bid”.

 

“DPWH put it up just as the holidays started, when everybody’s attention is turned elsewhere,” he said.

 

Mejorada also said the new bidding may be "manuever by the DPWH to give Hilmarc's a reason to get back into the game."

 

Hilmarc's Construction Corporation secured the contract for the ICC's first phase, which was worth P479 million. 

 

It is the same contractor that built the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II, which was built in 2007 when Vice President Jejomar Binay was still the city's mayor. Binay has since denied any irregularity on the building's construction. — RSJ, GMA News