INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

I. ITEMS TO BE BID:

Purchase of Assessment System (Online Testing) - Rebidding

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): P 185,000.00

Cost of Bidding Documents: P 500.00 (Cash)

II. PERSONS/ENTITIES WHO MAY BID:

1. Duly licensed Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships;

2. Partnerships duly organized under the laws of the Philippines and of which at least sixty percent of the interest belongs to citizens of the Philippines;

3. Corporations duly organized under the laws of the Philippines, and of which at least sixty percent of the outstanding capital stock belongs to citizens of the Philippines;

4. Cooperatives duly organized under the laws of the Philippines, and of which at least sixty percent of the interest belongs to citizens of the Philippines; and

5. Persons/entities forming themselves into a Joint Venture, i.e., a group of two (2) or more persons/entities that intend to be jointly and severally responsible or liable for a particular contract: Provided, however, that Filipino ownership or interest of the joint venture concerned shall be at least 60%.

III. PRE-BID CONFERENCE

The Pre-bid Conference for the project is on March 26, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. at Rm. 210, 2nd Floor - DOLE Executive Building, San Jose Street, Intramuros, Manila.

Any statement made at the Pre-bid Conference shall not modify the terms of the Bidding Documents, unless such statement is specifically identified in writing as an amendment thereto and issued as a Supplemental/Bid Bulletin. IV. SUBMISSION, RECEIPT, OPENING AND EXAMINATION OF REQUIREMENTS AND BIDS.

On April 10, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. two (2) sealed envelopes with label bearing “Purchase of Assessment System (Online Testing) - Rebidding” shall be submitted to the BAC, Rm. 210, 2nd floor, DOLE Executive Building, San Jose Street, Intramuros, Manila marked as follows:

1. “ELIGIBILITY AND TECHNICAL ENVELOPE” for the Purchase of Assessment System (Online Testing) - Rebidding (Put three (3) sets in the Eligibility and Technical Envelope)

“DO NOT OPEN BEFORE April 10, 2013 at 1:30 p.m.”

2. “FINANCIAL PROPOSAL” for the Purchase of Assessment System (Online Testing) - Rebidding (Put three (3) sets in one Financial Proposal Envelope)

“DO NOT OPEN BEFORE April 10, 2013 at 1:30 p.m.”

Each envelope shall contain three (3) sets with one (1) certified true copy and two (2) photocopies.

The above mentioned envelopes shall be opened simultaneously after 1:30 p.m. by the BAC, which shall contain the following eligibility and technical information/documents:

1. “ELIGIBILITY AND TECHNICAL ENVELOPE” for the Purchase of Assessment System (Online Testing) - Rebidding.

A. Eligibility Requirements

Class “A” Documents

a. Registration Certificate from the SEC, Registration Certificate from the DTI for sole proprietorship, Registration Certificate from the CDA for cooperatives, or any proof of such registration;

b. Mayor’s Permit issued by the city/municipality, where the principal place of business of the prospective bidder is located;

c. Statement of all its on-going and completed gov’t. and private contracts within the last two (2) years including

2 contracts awarded but not yet started, if any. The statement shall include, for each contract, the following:

1. Name of the contract; 2. Date of the contract; 3. Kinds of Goods; 4. Amount of contract and value of outstanding contracts; 5. Date of delivery; 6. End user’s acceptance or official receipt(s) issued for the contract, if completed. 7. Contact No./s; and 8. Contact Person

d. Audited financial statements, stamped “received” by the BIR or its duly accredited and authorized institutions, for CY 2011 showing, among others, its total and current assets and liabilities;

e. Duly signed computation of bidder’s Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to the ABC to be bid or a commitment from a Universal or Commercial Bank to extend a credit line (CLC) in favor of the prospective bidder if awarded the contract to be bid which must be at least equal to ten percent of the Approved Budget for the Contract.

Class “B” Documents

f. If applicable, the JVA in case the joint venture is already in existence, or duly notarized statements from all the potential joint venture partners stating that they will enter into and abide by the provisions of the JVA in the instance the bid is successful.

g. Certified true copy of the Official Receipt issued by the DOLE Cash Division for payment of the bid documents.

B. Technical Documents

a. Original copy of the bid security which shall be in an amount equal to a percentage of the ABC in accordance with the following schedule:

Amount Form of Bid Security (% of the ABC) a Cash, cashier’s/manager’s check, issued by a Universal or Commercial Bank. b Bank draft/guarantee or irrevocable letter of Two percent (2%) credit issued by a Universal/Commercial Bank: Provided, however, that it shall be confirmed or authenticated by a Universal/ Commercial Bank,

3 if issued by a foreign bank. c Surety bond callable upon demand issued by a surety/insurance company duly certified by the Insurance Commission as authorized to issue Five percent (5%) such security. d Any combination of the foregoing. Proportionate to share of form with respect to total amount of security e Bid-Securing Declaration No Monetary Value

An undertaking by a prospective bidder following a standard format attached as Annex “A”

b. Sworn statement by the prospective bidder or its duly authorized representative in the form prescribed by the GPPB as to the following:

1. It is not “blacklisted” or barred from bidding by the GOP or any of its agencies, offices, corporations, or LGUs, including foreign government/foreign or international financing institution whose blacklisting rules have been recognized by the GPPB;

2. Each of the documents submitted in satisfaction of the bidding requirements is an authentic copy of the original, complete, and all statements and information provided therein are true and correct;

3. It is authorizing the DOLE Secretary or her duly authorized representative/s to verify all the documents submitted;

4. The signatory is the duly authorized representative of the prospective bidder, and granted full power and authority to do, execute and perform any and all acts necessary and/or to represent the prospective bidder in the bidding, with the duly notarized Secretary’s Certificate attesting to such fact, if the prospective bidder is a corporation, partnership, cooperative, or joint venture;

5. The bidder is not related to the DOLE Secretary, members of the BAC, the TWG, and the BAC Secretariat, the Director of the Human Resource Development Service (HRDS), by consanguinity or affinity up to the third civil degree. On the part of the bidder, this shall apply to the following persons:

a) If individual/sole proprietorship, to the bidder himself;

4 b) If partnership, to all its officers and members; c) If a corporation, to all its officers, directors and controlling stockholders; and d) If a joint venture, the provisions of items a, b or c shall correspondingly apply to each of the members of the said joint venture, as may be appropriate.

6. It complies with the responsibilities of a prospective or eligible bidder provided in the Philippine Bidding Documents (PBDs).

7. It complies with existing labor laws and standards

2. “FINANCIAL PROPOSAL” for the Purchase of Assessment System (Online Testing) - Rebidding.

a. Duly signed bid prices using the DOLE prescribed form “Request for Price Quotation (RPQ)”

The BAC shall determine if each prospective bidder is eligible to participate in the bidding by examining the completeness of each prospective bidder’s eligibility and technical documents against the checklist of requirements using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria.

The BAC shall proceed with the opening of the financial proposals for the bidder/s found to be eligible and passed the technical requirements.

The decision of the BAC at any stage of the procurement process may be questioned by filing a request for reconsideration within three (3) calendar days upon receipt of written notice or upon verbal notification. The BAC shall decide on the request for reconsideration within seven (7) calendar days from receipt thereof.

If a failed bidder signifies his/her intent to file a request for reconsideration, the BAC shall keep the bid envelopes of the said failed bidder unopened and/or duly sealed until such time that the request for reconsideration has been resolved.

V. BID MODIFICATION

Bid modifications as well as bids submitted after April 10, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. shall not be considered. Likewise, unsigned bids shall not be considered. It is understood that only the authorized signatory of the bid documents shall sign the bids to be submitted during the bidding.

5 In case the financial proposal does not meet the requirements, or if the submitted bid price exceeds the ABC, the BAC shall rate the bid offer as “failed”.

VI. BID SECURITY

All bids shall be accompanied by a bid security payable to the DOLE as a guarantee that the successful bidder shall, within ten (10) calendar days from receipt of the Notice of Award, enter into contract with the DOLE and furnish the performance security provided for in Section 27 of the Revised IRR of RA 9184. Failure to enclose the required bid security in the form and amount prescribed herein shall automatically disqualify the bid concerned. The amount of the bid security should be at least equivalent to a percentage of the ABC to be bid, as follows:

Form of Bid Security % of ABC Amount a Cash, cashier’s/manager’s check issued by a Universal or Commercial Bank. b Bank draft/guarantee or Irrevocable letter of credit issued by a Two (2) % Universal/Commercial Bank: Provided, of P185,000.00 P 3,700.00 however, that it shall be confirmed or authenticated by a Universal or Commercial Bank, if issued by a foreign bank. c Surety bond callable upon demand issued by a surety or insurance company duly Five (5) % of certified by the Insurance Commission as P185,000.00 P 9,250.00 authorized to issue such security. d Any combination of the foregoing. Proportionate to share of form with respect to total amount of security e Bid-Securing Declaration No Monetary Value

No bid securities shall be returned to bidders after the opening of bids and before contract signing, except to those that,

i) Failed to comply with any of the requirements to be submitted in the first bid envelope, or ii) Were post-disqualified and submitted a written waiver of their right to file Motions for Reconsideration and/or protest.

Bid securities shall be returned only after the bidder with the lowest calculated responsive bid has signed the contract and furnished

6 the Performance Security, but in no case shall exceed 120 calendar days from the date of the opening of bids.

VII. EVALUATION OF BIDS

The purpose of bid evaluation is to determine the Lowest Calculated Bid (LCB). This bid, which may not be the lowest quoted price, shall be subjected to post-qualification to determine its responsiveness to the eligibility and bid requirements. (Rule X, Revised IRR)

The DOLE BAC is not bound to declare a bidder, who quoted the lowest bid price alone, as the lowest calculated bidder. Further, a bid that is declared as the lowest calculated bid cannot be considered as an automatic assurance that the project will be awarded to said bidder.

Bids that contain major deviations from the bidding documents shall be declared as failed. Motions for Reconsideration of disqualified bids shall be submitted to the BAC within three (3) calendar days from receipt of the Notice of Disqualification.

VIII. CONTRACT AWARD

The decision on whether or not to award the contract shall be made by the DOLE Secretary or her duly authorized representative, within seven (7) calendar days from the date the BAC finally determines and declares the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB). In case of approval, the Notice of Award shall immediately be issued to the bidder with the LCRB.

The successful bidder shall execute the contract with the DOLE within ten (10) calendar days from receipt of the Notice of Award provided that said bidder complies with all the documentary requirements, if any. Should the successful bidder refuse, fail or is unable to enter into contract with the DOLE and/or post the required performance security, he/she shall be meted with the appropriate sanctions provided under Rule XI Section 40 of the Revised IRR. As such, the post-qualification process shall be repeated for the bidder with the next LCB until the LCRB is determined.

IX. PERFORMANCE SECURITY

7 The successful bidder shall guarantee the faithful performance of the contract by posting a performance security in favor of the DOLE in accordance with the following schedule:

% of Quoted Form of Performance Security AMOUNT Price a Cash, cashier’s/manager’s check issued by a Universal or Commercial Bank. b Bank draft/guarantee or Irrevocable letter of credit issued by a Five (5) % Universal/Commercial Bank: Provided, however, that it shall be confirmed or authenticated by a Universal or Commercial Bank, if issued by a foreign bank. c Surety bond callable upon demand issued by a surety or insurance company Thirty (30) % duly certified by the Insurance Commission as authorized to issue such security. d Any combination of the foregoing Proportionate to share of form with respect to total amount of security

X. OTHERS

The DOLE assumes no obligation whatsoever to compensate or indemnify the bidders for any expense or loss that they may incur in the preparation of their bids nor does it guarantee that an award will be made. The DOLE reserves the right to reject any and all bids , declare a Failure of Bidding at any time prior to the contract award, whether or not to award the contract, without thereby incurring any liability, and make no assurance that a contract shall be entered into as a result of the bidding.

ATTY. SHERILYN G. MALONZO OIC, Legal Service and Vice-Chairperson, Bids and Awards Committee

___ March 2013

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