ONLY one bidder submitted its offer to modernize the existing civil-registry system, the chief of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center said on Friday.

Andre C. Palacios, the executive director of the infrastructure development agency, said only Unisys Philippines forwarded its bid for the P1.6-billion deal.

“There were three qualified bidders, but only one submitted. We were actually hoping that all of them will submit, but only Unisys Philippines, the existing concessionaire of the system, submitted,” he told the BusinessMirror via phone.

The second phase of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Civil Registry System Information Technology Project is designed to upgrade the existing civil-registry system with an entirely new system with higher specifications and service-level requirements. It will take two years to be developed, as it will include the construction of a new building and the development of a completely new information-technology system.

Its precursor began in 1999 and is set to expire in March 2017. In anticipation of this date, discussions on the second phase were initiated in 2012, undergoing a rigorous evaluation process including the requisite National Economic and Development Authority approval in July 2015 up until the present day.

The almost four-year timeline consistent with the build-operate-transfer law’s prescribed period for the procurement process includes a deadline for the commencement of the bidding process on June 10, and concessionaire onboarding by September 2016 allowing for a smooth six-month transition process, in order to prevent major service interruptions in providing civil-registry documents, such as birth and marriage certificates to the Filipino public.

Before March 2017, the winning concessionaire must familiarize itself with the IT system for Phase 1 and subsequently, operate it after taking over in March, during the development stage of the new IT system and construction of the new building for Phase 2.

Palacios said given the short amount of time, the project might not be awarded during the Aquino administration.

“We will have to review the technical and financial proposal. Also, the Investment Coordination Council or ICC under Neda has to review the bid because there was only one party who submitted an offer,” he said.

10 June 2016
By Lorenz S. Marasigan