DUMAGUETE CITY (PNA) – The Bids and Awards Committee of the provincial government of Negros Oriental conducted an orientation conference Wednesday afternoon on the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9184 otherwise known as The Government Procurement Act.

Some 80 suppliers of various goods and services attended the forum following media reports of alleged irregularities in the conduct of bidding procedures.

During the forum, George Ong, proprietor of the Negros Oriental Metal Glass and Aluminum, expressed his frustrations on what he calls “unfair treatment of small time suppliers.”

Ong said that based on his experience, small-time suppliers have to wait several months before they receive payment because of misplaced or lost documents.

He also claimed knowledge of more discrepancies during the conduct of bidding but refused to divulge these irregularities during the forum.

Ong said he would provide such information directly to the office of BAC Chairperson, Marichu Alpuerto.

The owner of SLK Construction Supply, Leuven Dequito, also claimed that his signature was forged in one of the biddings conducted by the provincial government.

During the forum, a suggestion was made that the BAC Secretariat should implement strictly a ruling not to socialize too much with suppliers so as to avoid public doubt.

Lawyer Geoffrey Villahermosa, Provincial Secretary and BAC member admitted during the forum that they have encountered problems with forged signatures as one alternative method in procurement.

He said this was applied only to small value procurement but with a P51,000 to P500,000 limit.

He said the BAC was trying a new system by filling out shopping forms and submitting these directly to the Secretariat.

Alpuerto said complaints and suggestions during the forum were all noted as the BAC and the Provincial Attorney’s Office were set to conduct an in-depth investigation on alleged irregularities.

Provincial Legal Counsel Erwin Vergara said he will investigate and identify the culprits responsible for the forgery of signatures.