Procurement Activities:

To ensure that all procurement activities in the university shall be in accordance with the procurement process as mandated under the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184 otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act, the University President and Head of Procuring Entity issued Office Order No. 011, s. 2012 dated February 15, 2012, re-constituting the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC). The BAC shall discharge the following functions as stipulated under Item 12.1 of Section 12 of the IRR:

1. Advertise and/or post the invitation to bid/request for expressions of interest;
2. Conduct pre-procurement and pre-bid conferences;
3. Determine the eligibility of prospective bidders;
4. Receive bids;
5. Conduct the evaluation of bids;
6. Undertake post-qualification proceedings;
7. Resolve motions for reconsideration;
8. Recommend award of contracts to the Head of Procuring Entity (HOPE) or his duly authorized representative;
9. Recommend the imposition of sanctions in accordance with Rule XXIII;
10. Recommend to the HOPE the use of Alternative Methods of Procurement; and
11. Perform such other related functions as may be necessary, including the creation of a Technical Working Group (TWG) from a pool of technical, financial, and/or legal experts to assist in the procurement process, particularly in the eligibility screening, evaluation of bids, and post-qualification.

On the other hand, the BAC Secretariat was likewise created to “serve as the main support unit of the BAC” with the following functions:

1. Provide administrative support to the BAC;
2. Organize and make all necessary arrangement for BAC meetings and conferences;
3. Prepare minutes of meetings and resolutions of the BAC;
4. Take custody of the procurement documents and other records;
5. Manage the sale and distribution of Bidding Documents to interested bidders;
6. Advertise and/or post bidding opportunities, including Bidding Documents, and Notices of Awards;
7. Assist in managing the procurement processes;
8. Monitor procurement activities and milestones for proper reporting to relevant agencies when required;
9. Consolidate PPMPs from various units of the Procuring entity to make them available for review;
10. Act as the central channel of communications for the BAC with end users, PMOs, other units of the line agency, other government agencies, providers of goods, infrastructure projects, and consulting services, observers, and the general public. Aside from the BAC and BAC Secretariat, Technical Working Groups, Observers from the Commission on Audit (COA) and private sectors as well as provisional members of the BAC are invited to attend as witnesses and/or whenever their expertise is needed during the procurement activities of the BAC.

Stages of the procurement process:

1. Preparation of the Annual Procurement Plan by the end-users (units and colleges)
2. Preparation of Bidding Documents by the BAC Secretariat
3. Pre-procurement conference – usually not required for the procurement of goods costing PhP2M and below; and infrastructure projects costing PhP5M and below.
4. Pre-bid conference – are conducted with an approved budget of PhP1M or more. For contract to be bid with an approved budget of less than PhP1M, pre-bid conferences shall be at the discretion of the BAC.
5. Advertisement and Posting of the Invitation to Bid – to newspapers of general circulation shall not be required for contracts to be bid with an approved budget of PhP2M and below for the procurement of goods; and PhP5M and below for infrastructure projects.
6. Issuance of Bidding Documents upon submission of Letter of Intent (LOI) by interested bidders and upon payment of non-refundable fee to the University Cashier
7. Preliminary Evaluation of Bids
8. Post qualification of Bids to determine whether the bid submitted by the bidder with the Lowest Calculated is responsive
9. Issuance of BAC Resolution Recommending the Award of the Contract with the bidder with the Lowest Calculated and Responsive Bid (LCRB)
10. Issuance of Notice of Post-Qualification
11. Issuance of Notice of Award
12. Signing of Contract
13. Issuance of Notice to Proceed