ISSUES:
1. Whether Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) members may authorize Technical Working Group (TWG) members as their representatives for purposes of initialing bids opened during bid openings.
2. Whether initials of only 2 authorized TWG members are sufficient to comply with the requirement under Section 29 of R.A. 9184 and its IRR-A.
MY VIEWS:
1. Yes. The general rule, provided under Section 12.4 of the IRR-A, is that representatives of BAC members are not authorized to sign in behalf of BAC members. Section 29 of the IRR-A, therefore, operates as an exception to that general rule in that it recognizes duly authorized representatives of BAC members present during bid opening to initial every page of the original copies of all bids received and opened.
2. No. The requirement under Section 29 of the IRR-A is for all BAC members or their duly authorized representatives present during bid opening to initial every page of the original copies of all bids received and opened. With 3 being the minimum number of BAC members – not counting their representatives – necessary to constitute quorum, the initials of 2 representatives clearly fall short of the clear and categorical requirement under Section 29, IRR-A.
