THE Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Governing Board said it is working on guidelines governing appeals filed by prospective proponents who were eliminated at a project’s pre-qualification stages.
According to a notice posted to the website of the PPP Center, the guidelines will “set a fair and appropriate amount of appeal fees for disqualified proponents which shall not discourage potential appellants from challenging the disqualification decision.”
The guidelines are also designed to “dissuade non-serious bidders (from) filing appeals which can impede the procurement process for PPP projects.”
“Proponents who fail to pre-qualify may appeal their disqualification, subject to the rules and prerequisites outlined in implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Build-Operate-Transfer Law. One of these conditions is the payment of a non-refundable appeal fee,” it said.
Appeal fees are set at no less than 0.5% of the project cost, according to Section 5.5 of the revised IRR.
“However, during the amendment process of the 2022 IRR, particularly in the inter-agency discussions, some agencies raised concerns about the lack of flexibility of the provision on appeal fees,” it said.
“The revised 2022 IRR removes this lack by not setting the appeal fee at a specific percentage and instead providing that it shall be in an amount approved by the Approving Body pursuant to guidelines to be issued by the PPP Governing Board,” it added.
According to a draft resolution, the appeal fee will vary from 0.75% of the project cost for projects costing P2 billion or less, to 0.10% of the project cost for projects costing more than P200 billion.
The PPP Governing Board is chaired by the National Economic and Development Authority Secretary, with the Finance Secretary acting as vice-chair. Its members include the secretaries of the Departments of Budget and Management, Justice, Trade and Industry, the Executive Secretary, and Private Sector Co-Chairman of the National Competitiveness Council.
The PPP Center acts as the secretariat for the board.
Comment on the guidelines is being solicited as part of the consultation process. The deadline to comment is Sept. 27. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
