Bid Bulletin No. 1

The public is hereby informed of the clarifications in the Bidding Documents for the Public Bidding of Provision of Courier Services for the Delivery of Documents, Materials, and Equipment from Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China and New York, United States of America to the Philippines.

1. Submission of Bids for this project is moved from February 4, 2019 to February 6, 2019 9:00AM at the BAC Secretariat Office, 7th floor, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila. Late bids shall not be accepted.
   
   The Opening of Bids is likewise moved from February 4, 2019 to February 6, 2019 10:00AM at the Club Intramuros Golf Club, Bonifacio Drive, Intramuros, Manila.
2. Queries from the prospective bidders:
   
   

   Name of Prospective Bidders	Question	Answer
   Ms. Vernadette G. Vivero of All Transport Network, Inc., thru letter dated January 21, 2019	Section VII - Technical Specification and Annex D - Terms of Reference (TOR) 1. "Pick up address in Hongkong and New York. "	1. For cargoes in Hongkong, the cargoes are currently stored at the Bayanihan Center located at No. 55 Victoia Road, Kennedy Town, Hongkong. For cargoes in New York, the cargoes are currently stored at Philippine Consulate General, New York, 556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036, United States of America.
   	2. "Dimension of Ballot boxes."	2. Please see attached Annex "E" - Dimensions of Cargoes.
   	3. "Dimension of boxes for each item to be picked up."	3. Please see attached Annex "E" - Dimensions of Cargoes.
   	4. "Clarifications on the Financial Form for NYC, USA - No Financial Form in the bidding documents, only HKG and "Na double"."	4. Please see attached Annex "F" - Financial Proposal.
   	5. Who is the importer on record?"	5. The importer on record is the Commission on Elections being the entity responsible that the items to be imported into the Philippines are legally documented and assumes ownership thereto.
   	6. "Who will pay the duties and taxes?"	6. Pursuant to Automated Election Law (RA 9369) and the recent BIR Ruling No. 1242-2018 dated October 12, 2018, the COMELEC is authorized to procure services from local or foreign sources free from taxes and import duties.
   	7. "Do we need to apply/process duty and tax exemption from the Department of Finance?"	7. The COMELEC thru the Administrative Services Department (ASD) will assist the shipper to apply/process the tax exemption from the Department of Finance.
   Ms. Mary Grace S. Rosales of RAF International Forwarding Phils, Inc., thru letter dated January 21, 2019	Annex D - Terms of Reference (TOR) 1. "Format or form that we will use for the financial proposal does not tally. Seems that for USA was not indicated and Hongkong used indicated twice. Need your correct template on this."	1. Please see attached Annex "F" - Financial Proposal.
   	2. "What are the complete origin/pick up addresses in Hongkong and New York, USA shipment? These are not stated in the bidding docs."	2. For cargoes in Hongkong, the cargoes are currently stored at the Bayanihan Center located at No. 55 Victoia Road, Kennedy Town, Hongkong. For cargoes in New York, the cargoes are currently stored at Philippine Consulate General, New York, 556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036, United States of America.
   	3. "What are the dimensions of the boxes (LxWxH in cm) for Hongkong and New York, USA? These are not stated in the bidding docs."	3. Please see attached Annex "E" - Dimensions of Cargoes.
   	4. "Is COMELEC are the one who file the Tax exemption or the forwarder? Will COMELEC file for tax exemption?"	4. The COMELEC thru the Administrative Services Department (ASD) will assist the shipper to apply/process the tax exemption from the Department of Finance.
   	5. "If COMELEC is not filing for exemption - this means that COMELEC will pay duties and taxes under E2M process (system of BOC) for the assessment of BOC’s duties and taxes prior to release the shipment from the customs, please confirm this? Also, please confirm that COMELEC pay the duties and taxes within 15 days from shipment arrival?"	5. The COMELEC thru the Administrative Services Department (ASD) will assist the shipper to apply/process the tax exemption from the Department of Finance.
   Ms. Arley Gregorio of F2 Logistics Inc., thru email dated January 24, 2019	Section VII- Technical Specification and Annex D - Terms of Reference (TOR) 1. "Is this a onetime shipment only per country based on the total volume? If no, can you please provide the total no. of BL per origin."	1. It will be a one-time shipment per country based on the total volume.
   	2. "Can Forwarder decide if they can ship out the cargoes in one BL only per origin?"	2. It will be a one-time shipment per country based on the total volume.
   	3. "All rates are all-in, inclusive of duties and taxes? or subject to duties and taxes? Since Comelec is a government agency, are your exempted for duties and taxes? "	3. The rates are all-in, inclusive of all duties and taxes.
   	4. "Cargoes are on pallet or boxes only? since the Comelec requesting to secure their cargoes, we are recommend that the cargoes must be on pallet."."	4. The cargoes must be on pallet.
   	5. "Payment Term of this bidding?"	5. The payment terms are as follows: The courier shall submit the following documents as prerequisites for the processing of payments: (a) Original AWBs - It must be duly accomplished, with signature over legibly written printed name of, including the date and time the document/cargo was actually received by, the consignee/ authorized receiver and his/her official designation. If the document/cargo was received by the consignee’s duly authorized representative, the latter should have a permanent status of appointment; otherwise, a written authority for  the authorized representative of the consignee shall be included in the supporting documents to be submitted. (b) Summary Report - It must be duly accomplished, with the AWB  Code or Number, weight of the shipment, date and time the shipment was picked up, and date and time received by    the consignee/authorized receiver and his/her official position. (c) Pro-Forma Billing Form - It must be duly accomplished and shall contain the AWBs Code or Number, pick- up date, weight, date and time of receipt of shipment by consignees, destination, the rate per kilo and the· total cost of the shipment. (d) Service Contract,.pertinent COMELEC Resolution, Notice of Award, Notice to Proceed and other written agreements as may be applicable; (e) Written Authority or confirmation to special transactions, such as deviation on the delivery other than the usual routes, if applicable; and (f) Other documents as required in the usual auditing rules and procedures. All payments shall be inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT) and other lawful charges. For purposes of billing, all consignees, as enumerated in the Shipping Guide, shall be billed as one.
   	6. "Target time/date to receive the complete cargoes from origin?	6. The duration of the project is six (6) months from the courier’s receipt of the Notice to Proceed. However, the courier should exert its utmost efforts in delivering the cargoes to the Philippines before April 13, 2019. Should it fail to ship the cargoes before April 13, 2019, the courier should explain to the OFOV in writing the reason why it did not deliver the cargoes to the Philippines before the said date.
   	7. "Please advise the confirm address at origin."	7. For cargoes in Hongkong, the cargoes are currently stored at the Bayanihan Center located at No.  55 Victoia Road, Kennedy Town, Hongkong. For cargoes in New York, the cargoes are currently stored at Philippine Consulate General, New York, 556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036, United States of America.
   	8. "Security of cargoes: Upon the turn- over of the cargoes to the nominated forwarder, cargoes are all packed? If yes, then forwarders are not liable if the documents and materials are incomplete inside the boxes. Nominated forwarder will be based on the actual packing list provided by the shipper at origin only."	8. The arrangement as to the packing list, documents and materials will be determined before signing of the contract.
   Mr. William N. Batac of PREMIER LOGISTICS, INC.,	1. "Section 5 of the Instructions to Bidders ("ITB") sets out the qualifications of an Eligible Bidder. Section 5.1 provides:" "5.1 Unless otherwise provided in the BDS, the following persons shall be eligible to participate in this bidding: (a) Duly licensed Filipino/sole proprietorship; (b) Partnerships duly organized under the laws of the Philippines and of which at least sixty percent (60)% of the interest belongs to citizens of the Philippines; (c) Corporations duly orgnized under the laws of the Philippines, and which at least sixty percent (60)% of the outstanding capital stock belongs to citizens of the Philippines; (d) Cooperatives duly organized under the laws of the Philippines; and (e) Persons/entities forming themselves into a Joint Venture (JV), 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 JV concerned shall be at least sixty percent (60%). In turn, Section 5.1 of the Bid Data Sheet ("BDS") which is preferred to in the abovementioned section of the ITB says that there are "no further instructions" with respect to an eligible bidder’s qualifications." "However, in Section 4 (a) of the Terms of Reference (TOR), it is stated that the procurement project is open to Filipino citizens, domestic or multinational corporations, or partnership duly licensed to9 engage as international courier or forwarding services in the Philippines, existing and fully operational for at least five (5) years before the date and submission of bids and operating worldwide particularly on the 83 Posts listed below…." (emphasis ours)" "From the foregoing, the TOR added a requirement (i,e., that the bidder should have been existing and fully operational for at least 5 years before the bid submission date and operating worldwide) which is not found in the ITB and the BDS. We understand that the 5-year period and worldwide operations requirements were set to ensure the operational and financial capabilities of a prospective bidder, which capabilities may also be determined based on the entity’s Net Financial Contracting ("NFCC") and its Single Largest Completed Contract  ("SLCC") pertaining to contracts which are similar to the Project, which are also among the requirements to be submitted by a bidder." "Moreover, it is our humble opinion that this additional qualification shall limit the competition in the logistics and warehousing business in the Philippines market, and this is not in consonance with the objectives of RA 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA). Based on the foregoing, we request that the requirement added by the TOR be deleted, and the relevant sections of the ITB and the BDS be declared as the prevailing provisions on qualifications of eligible bidders."	1. To foster competition, the OFOV is lowering the threshold as follows: (a) The procurement project is open to Filipino citizens, domestic or multinational corporations, or partnerships duly licensed to engage as international courier or forwarding services in the Philippines, existing and fully operational for at least two (2) years before the date of submission of bids and operating in New York, United States of America and Hongkong, People’s Republic of China. (b) The Bidder must have completed, within two (2) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, (i) a single contract similar to the poject at hand, equivalent to at least fifty percent (50%) of the ABC per lot or aggregate of lots subject of bid. (c) For this purpose, similar contract shall refer to the shipment and delivery of goods such as documents, supplies or equipment from New York, United States of America and Hongkong, People’s Republic of China to the Philippines.
   	2. "Section 29.2 of the BDS provides for the post-qualification requirements, which include, among others, an accreditation with the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB), Department of Trade and Industry. We note that in a bidding for a project procured by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the delivery of diplomatic pouches, for which PLI submitted a bid and was later declared as the winning bidder, submission of an FTEB accreditation was not among the requirements. Again, to maximize competition and open the bid to many qualified and able bidders, we request the deletion of this requirement."	2. To foster competition, the requirement of accreditation with the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau, Department of Trade and Industry is hereby deleted.

3. Section III - Bid Data Sheet, has been revised. Copies thereof are attached herein for reference.
4. Annex E - Dimension of Cargoes for Shipment and Annex F - Financial Proposal are attached herein making part of the Bidding Documents.

All terms, conditions and instructions to bidders specified in the Bidding Documents inconsistent with this Bid Bulletin are hereby superseded and modified accordingly.

For information and guidance of all concerned.

SIGNED:

• HELEN G. AGUILA-FLORES, BAC Chairperson
• ROSELLER B. ABAD, BAC Vice-Chairperson
• REY D. DOMA, BAC Member
• ABIGAIL CLAIRE C. LLACUNA, BAC Member
• ZENAIDA S. LORENZO, BAC Member