Procurement Guidelines & Checklist

These Procurement Policies and Procedures serve as corporate guidelines for conducting and managing the procurement activities of the Company.

The Approved Policy Statements and Procedures govern the procurement process of items categorized as follows:

• Stock Items, Non-Industrial, Consumables
• Stock Items, Industrial, Consumables
• Stock Items, Industrial, Machinery Parts and Accessories
• Non-Stock Items, Office Equipment, Parts and Accessories
• Industrial Equipment (Non-Capex and Capex Items)
• Construction of Production Facilities (Capex) Turnkey Project
• Contract Services: Repairs and Refurbishment of Production Facilities (Capex) Turnkey Project
• Contract Services: Repairs and Refurbishment of Administrative Facilities (Capex & Non-Capex) Turnkey Project
• Contract Services: Maintenance and Housekeeping of Administrative and Production Facilities
• Only Officially Approved Accredited Suppliers and Contractor can engage in business transactions with the Company.

Policy Statements:

• Only Accredited Suppliers and Contractor can enter into procurement transactions with the Company. Record the supplier and contractor using the form field below.

• Suppliers/Contractors have to undergo accreditation process before they would be allowed to submit bids in the procurement activities of the Company.
• Compliance with the required documents and the payment of accreditation fees are twofold requirements before a supplier or contractor would become accredited who shall be given exclusive, non-transferable right to participate in the procurement transactions of the Company.

Procedures:

a.) Applicant Supplier or Contractor applies for accreditation with the procurement manager or supervisor.

b.) Applicant Supplier or Contractor complies with accreditation documents and submits the same to procurement supervisor or manager. Record a copy of the documents using the form fields below

c.) Procurement Supervisor reviews and endorses the accreditation documents to Procurement Manager who in turn endorses the same to Internal Audit.

d.) The Accreditation Team, comprising of procurement agent, internal audit staff, conducts ocular inspections of business establishments and facilities of the suppliers-contractors. The Team also verifies original documents they have submitted to the procurement department.

e.) Internal Audit endorses the applicant supplier or contractor for approval of their accreditation based on the report of their findings from their accreditation inspection activities. Conversely, Internal Audit  recommends for the disapproval of their accreditation to the procurement manager through an official letter together with their findings of accreditation inspection activities.

f.) The Procurement Manager, upon approval of accreditation of a particular supplier or contractor, assigns supplier’s number or contractor’s number to the applicant supplier or contractor who in turn would use it to gain access (i.e. password) to the E-Procurement System of the Company. 

Policy Statement I:

It is The Company’s policy stance that the Procurement of Stock Items Non-Industrial, Consumables (e.g. office supplies, etc.) should be bid out to the lowest bidder after four-day period of submission of bids, without compromising the quality aspects of the item(s) bided out along with the objective concurrence of the end-user(s).

Procedures:

• Accredited Bidders would be allowed to submit bids by dropping their sealed bids enclosed in a white short sealed envelope to the designated drop-boxes in the procurement office during office hours (8:00 pm to 5:00 pm only).

NOTE: To invite the prospective bidders, the Procurement Manager or his designated supervisor shall be given the task of contacting the accredited supplier or contractor concerned thru various communication tools such as internet-based communications (email, etc.) and the conventional telephone system (i.e. the landline numbers or cell-phones).

Their responses to the bidding invitations are done through the Company's website, recorded through the computer system based on its official list of accredited suppliers-contractors.

• Suppliers or Contractors submit their bids through the Company's e-procurement system utilizing their supplier's or contractor's number as password to gain access to the E-Procurement System.
• The internal audit team opens the bids electronically, at the end of the first working day (i.e. Monday), specifically after 5:00 pm; validate them as to their authenticity and accuracy, print and post them in the white board of the office of the procurement manager; open for the viewing pleasures of all bidders on the following working day.
• Any bidder could make a letter-request to the procurement manager or his designated supervisor to submit another bid to make his bid more competitive vis-a-vis all bids posted in the office of the procurement manager within the four-day period .
• No bidder will be allowed to re-submit his bid after the four-day period has lapsed and/or after the designated office hours.
• Awarding of bids takes place on the fifth working day, before 12:00 noon in the presence of the internal audit team, procurement manager or supervisor, and the bidders themselves.

The Parameters taken into consideration in the Awarding of the Bids:

• Materials, Supplies and Equipment:
  • Price, Price or Volume Discounts, Product Quality, Terms of Delivery (Lead time, Delivery Destinations) After-Sales Service, Compliance with Terms of Payment, Track record.
• Contract Services:
  • Price, Quality, Project Timeline/Timetable vs Actual Project Completion, Performance Bond, Mobilization Fund, Labor Compensation Schemes, Track-record, etc.

Policy Statement II:

It is the Company’s policy stance that the Procurement of Stock Items, Industrial, Consumables (lime, oil & lubricants, fuel-diesel gasoline, etc.) would go through a bidding process whereby the lowest bidder would be awarded with the item(s) under consideration after careful evaluation of the procurement-audit teams along with the concurrence of the end-user(s).

Procedures:

• Accredited Bidders would be allowed to submit bids by dropping their sealed bids enclosed in a white short sealed envelope to the designated drop-boxes in the procurement office during office hours (8:00 pm to 5:00 pm only).

NOTE: To invite the prospective bidders, the Procurement Manager or his designated supervisor shall be given the task of contacting the accredited supplier or contractor concerned thru various communication tools such as internet-based communications (email, etc.) and the conventional telephone system (i.e. the landline numbers or cell-phones).

Their responses to the bidding invitations are done through the Company's website, recorded through the computer system based on its official list of accredited suppliers-contractors.

• Suppliers or Contractors submit their bids through the Company's e-procurement system utilizing their supplier's or contractor's number as password to gain access to the E-Procurement System.
• The internal audit team opens the bids electronically, at the end of the first working day (i.e. Monday), specifically after 5:00 pm; validate them as to their authenticity and accuracy, print and post them in the white board of the office of the procurement manager; open for the viewing pleasures of all bidders on the following working day.
• Any bidder could make a letter-request to the procurement manager or his designated supervisor to submit another bid to make his bid more competitive vis-a-vis all bids posted in the office of the procurement manager within the three-day period .
• No bidder will be allowed to re-submit his bid after the three-day period has lapsed and/or after the designated office hours.
• Awarding of bids takes place on the fourth working day, before 12:00 noon in the presence of the internal audit team, procurement manager or supervisor, and the bidders themselves.

Policy Statement III:

It is the Company’s policy stance that the Procurement of Stock Items, Industrial Machinery Parts & Accessories would go through the bidding process with the lowest bidder to be awarded with the item(s) under consideration without compromising the quality aspects of the items bidded out subject to the concurrence of the end-user(s).

However, in urgent cases with the risk of imminent operational breakdown, the procurement manager, along with the concurrence in writing of the internal audit manager & his team, is authorized to resort to ‘open canvassing’ subject to the approval of the Comptroller of the Company upon proper written consultation and endorsement with the VP-Manufacturing Operations, provided, however, that the Company’s fabrication team have certified that it could not manufacture the same within the prescribed time frame without prejudice to the continuance of the factory operations.

Procedures:

• Accredited Bidders would be allowed to submit bids by dropping their sealed bids enclosed in a white short sealed envelope to the designated drop-boxes in the procurement office during office hours (8:00 pm to 5:00 pm only).

NOTE: To invite the prospective bidders, the Procurement Manager or his designated supervisor shall be given the task of contacting the accredited supplier or contractor concerned thru various communication tools such as internet-based communications (email, etc.) and the conventional telephone system (i.e. the landline numbers or cell-phones).

Their responses to the bidding invitations are done through the Company's website, recorded through the computer system based on its official list of accredited suppliers-contractors.

• Suppliers or Contractors submit their bids through the Company's e-procurement system utilizing their supplier's or contractor's number as password to gain access to the E-Procurement System.
• The internal audit team opens the bids electronically, at the end of the first working day (i.e. Monday), specifically after 5:00 pm; validate them as to their authenticity and accuracy, print and post them in the white board of the office of the procurement manager; open for the viewing pleasures of all bidders on the following working day.
• Any bidder could make a letter-request to the procurement manager or his designated supervisor to submit another bid to make his bid more competitive vis-a-vis all bids posted in the office of the procurement manager within the seven-day period .
• No bidder will be allowed to re-submit his bid after the seven-day period has lapsed and/or after the designated office hours.
• Awarding of bids takes place on the eighth working day, before 12:00 noon in the presence of the internal audit team, procurement manager or supervisor, and the bidders themselves.

Policy Statement IV:

It is the Company’s policy stance that the Procurement of Non-Stock Items, Office Equipment, Parts & Accessories should go through the closely-supervised bidding process with the lowest bidder to be awarded with the item(s) under consideration without compromising the quality aspects of the items bidded out subject to the concurrence of the end-user.

Procedures:

• Accredited Bidders would be allowed to submit bids by dropping their sealed bids enclosed in a white short sealed envelope to the designated drop-boxes in the procurement office during office hours (8:00 pm to 5:00 pm only).

NOTE: To invite the prospective bidders, the Procurement Manager or his designated supervisor shall be given the task of contacting the accredited supplier or contractor concerned thru various communication tools such as internet-based communications (email, etc.) and the conventional telephone system (i.e. the landline numbers or cell-phones).

Their responses to the bidding invitations are done through the Company's website, recorded through the computer system based on its official list of accredited suppliers-contractors.

• Suppliers or Contractors submit their bids through the Company's e-procurement system utilizing their supplier's or contractor's number as password to gain access to the E-Procurement System.
• The internal audit team opens the bids electronically, at the end of the first working day (i.e. Monday), specifically after 5:00 pm; validate them as to their authenticity and accuracy, print and post them in the white board of the office of the procurement manager; open for the viewing pleasures of all bidders on the following working day.
• Any bidder could make a letter-request to the procurement manager or his designated supervisor to submit another bid to make his bid more competitive vis-a-vis all bids posted in the office of the procurement manager within the four-day period .
• No bidder will be allowed to re-submit his bid after the four-day period has lapsed and/or after the designated office hours.
• Awarding of bids takes place on the fifth working day, before 12:00 noon in the presence of the internal audit team, procurement manager or supervisor, and the bidders themselves.

Policy State V:

Non-Capex Item

• It is the Company’s policy stance that the Procurement of Industrial Equipment, herein categorized as Non-Capex Item considering it is of the amount below Php 500,000.00,  would be subjected to closely-supervised bidding process within a  three day bidding period, after which an officially-sanctioned awarding of bids takes place.
• In cases where only one bid is submitted after the three-day period has lapsed, the procurement manager is authorized to resort to ‘open canvassing’ to obtain at least two more legitimate bids to be bided out against the lone bid as prescribed herein.
• This process would be closely-supervised by the Internal Audit Manager and his team subject to the concurrence of the end-user concerned.

Capex Item

• Moreover, in regard to items categorized as Capex Item considering it is of an amount above Php 500,000.00,  a closely-supervised bidding process would be conducted within the prescribed three-day bidding period, under the oversight of Internal Audit-Procurement Team.
• An extension of the bidding process beyond the prescribed bidding period shall be called for by the Procurement Manager subject to the approval in writing of the Company’s Comptroller in cases where a failed bidding occurs.
• In this context, a failure of bidding occurs where only one bid is submitted after the three-day bidding is over or if all the bids submitted are erroneous and thus declared ‘invalid’ by the Procurement-Internal Audit Team subject to the oversight and concurrence in writing of the Company’s Comptroller. 
• Such extension of the bidding period will continue until an officially sanctioned awarding of bids takes place to the satisfaction of the Internal Audit-Procurement Teams under the oversight of the Company’s Comptroller in close coordination with the VP-Manufacturing along with his division managers concerned.
• The Company’s Comptroller shall arbitrarily set the maximum number of days as to the extent of the extension of bidding period, but shall not exceed fifteen working days. Beyond such period, the Company’s Comptroller shall, upon his discretionary power as chairperson of the Top Management Bidding Committee, shall choose the winner of all bids.

Procedures:

• Accredited Bidders would be allowed to submit bids by dropping their sealed bids enclosed in a white short sealed envelope to the designated drop-boxes in the procurement office during office hours (8:00 pm to 5:00 pm only).

NOTE: To invite the prospective bidders, the Procurement Manager or his designated supervisor shall be given the task of contacting the accredited supplier or contractor concerned thru various communication tools such as internet-based communications (email, etc.) and the conventional telephone system (i.e. the landline numbers or cell-phones).

Their responses to the bidding invitations are done through the Company's website, recorded through the computer system based on its official list of accredited suppliers-contractors.

• Suppliers or Contractors submit their bids through the Company's e-procurement system utilizing their supplier's or contractor's number as password to gain access to the E-Procurement System.
• The internal audit team opens the bids electronically, at the end of the first working day (i.e. Monday), specifically after 5:00 pm; validate them as to their authenticity and accuracy and print.
• Any bidder could make a letter-request to the procurement manager or his designated supervisor to submit another bid to make his bid more competitive vis-a-vis all bids posted in the office of the procurement manager within the seven-day period .
• No bidder will be allowed to re-submit his bid after the seven-day period has lapsed and/or after the designated office hours.
• Awarding of bids takes place on the eighth working day, before 12:00 noon in the presence of the internal audit team, procurement manager or supervisor, and the bidders themselves.

On top of it all, a fully-authorized ‘resorting to open canvassing’ upon the judgement call of the procurement manager is allowed under this category.

However, final decision-making as regards Capex items, shall be given to the Company’s Comptroller as chairperson of the Top Management Bidding Committee.

Policy Statement VI

It is the Company’s long-standing policy that the sourcing out of qualified bidders for the construction of production facilities, considered as Capex Items costing more than Php 4,000,000.00, shall be the sole responsibility of The Company’s Top Management Bidding Committee, with the assistance of the procurement-internal audit teams as ad hoc support group.

Procedures:

• Bidding ads are placed on national dailies and/or on emails to reach accredited contractors with good track record without pending legal cases in any business transaction.
• Interested Bidders are requested to send letter of intents (LOIs) to the procurement manager.
• The Procurement Manager shall invite them to attend pre-bidding conference at designated time and place.
• A technical bidding conference shall be set by the procurement manager and the bidders will be informed to attend accordingly.
• The Procurement Manager, as chairperson of the technical bidding committee, shall preside over the bidding conference, with the participation of the division manager(s) and department head(s) concerned, internal audit manager & his team as observers.
• The bidders shall bring their sealed technical bids duly signed in a white short envelope.
• The Procurement Manager will open the sealed technical bids, individually in a random fashion, in the presence of the bidders themselves, the internal audit manager & his team, division and department heads concerned representing the end-users group, along with the procurement supervisor and his staff.
• The Procurement Manager will hold a close-door meeting with the Internal Audit Manager, along with division manager and department head concerned in order to screen out the qualified bidders who will be qualified to proceed to the final phase of the bidding process, the Commercial Bidding Conference to be presided over by the Internal Audit Manager, with the Procurement Manager & his team as observers.
• The Procurement Manager, will announce in writing, the bidders who are qualified to proceed to the Commercial Bidding Conference and they will be informed to attend such conference accordingly.
• Bidders, who are invited to attend the technical or commercial bidding conference, but are unable to attend for any other reason whether valid or otherwise, are automatically disqualified from the bidding process.
• The Commercial Bidding Conference will be presided over by the Internal Audit Manager, along with the Procurement Manager & his team as observers.
• The Bidders shall bring their sealed commercial bids duly signed in a white short envelope.
• The Internal Audit Manager shall open the sealed commercial bids, individually in a random fashion, in the presence of the bidders themselves, procurement manager and his staff, the internal audit staff, along with the Comptroller as observer.
• The Internal Audit Manager, as chairperson of such conference, will announce the winner of the bidding process during the Commercial Bidding Conference and his decision is final and executory, thus cannot be appealed unless flagrant violation of the governing rules are proven beyond reasonable doubt.
• The Company’s Comptroller, in his capacity as chairperson of the Top Management Bidding Committee, may or may not investigate alleged fraudulent act or any or coercion that may have direct influence on the outcome of the bidding process, subject to the evaluation of the merits of the appeal of the bidders involved.
• The Ethics Committee of the Top Management Bidding Committee, chaired by the Head, The Company’s Legal Staff Department, will evaluate the merits of the allegations and will come out with the proper recommendations within fifteen working days since the written appeal was submitted to the attention of The Company’s Comptroller.
• All Winners of the bidding process will be published in the Company’s website and will be published on two national dailies to affirm The Company’s commitment to transparency and accountability in all its business-transactions with all the bidders involved (supplier-contractors in particular and with the  public in general).
• The winning bidder will be asked to submit a performance bond amounting to not less than half of the total bid price of the project as a security bond of the Company during the construction phase of the project and shall be returned to the winning bidder after the completion of the project.
• Insurance companies chosen by the Company’s Comptroller shall issue the performance bond.
• The winning contractor will be required to set up a mobilization fund to bankroll the construction of the project for the first three weeks before the Comptroller will approve any cash advance request.
• The contractor awarded with the project will be required to submit a progress report for the duration of the construction phase of the projects, based on which a corresponding billing report will be submitted to the Company’s Chief Accountant for review and subsequent release of a series of payments for the contractor for the duration of the project construction.
• Corresponding penalties amounting to not less than 10% of the total project cost will be imposed upon the contractor who cannot meet the due date of the project’s completion. Performance bond will be withheld pending completion of the project.
• After completion of the project, the end-user will be evaluate the performance of the contractor and an evaluation report will be submitted to the Internal Audit Manager copy furnished The Comptroller, Procurement Manager, and the contractor concerned.

The Top Management Bidding Committee

The Top Management Bidding Committee shall comprise of the following:

• Treasurer and Resident Director - honorary member
• Comptroller and Assistant Treasurer - Overall Chairperson 
• VP-Manufacturing and Resident Manager - chairperson (technical bidding conference) - contract services: repairs and refurbishment of production facilities (capex project) turnkey project.
• Division Manager, Corporate Planning Division - Vice-Chairperson - Top Management Bidding Committee
• VP-Engineering Services - chairperson (technical bidding conference - contract services: repairs and refurbishment of Administrative Buildings and facilities) (capex) turnkey project.
•  Head, Corporate Assets Management Department-chairperson (technical bidding conference contract services: maintenance and housekeeping of administrative facilities and factory operations and/or production facilities.

Policy Statement VII:

It is the Company’s long-standing policy that the procurement of contract services particularly for the repairs and refurbishment of production facilities (capex and non-capex-minor repairs) on a turnkey basis shall go through closely-supervised bidding process whereby the most deserving bidder, one who could provide the Company with the greatest degree of advantage in terms of cost-savings and top quality services, will be awarded with the coveted project in accordance with the Company’s long-held tradition of transparency and accountability executed under highest degree of corporate ethical standards.

Procedures:

• Bidding ads are placed on national dailies and/or on emails to reach accredited contractors with good track record without pending legal cases in any business transaction.
• Interested Bidders are requested to send letter of intents (LOIs) to the procurement manager.
• The Procurement Manager shall invite them to attend pre-bidding conference at designated time and place.
• A technical bidding conference shall be set by the procurement manager and the bidders will be informed to attend accordingly.
• The VP-Manufacturing is the designated chairperson-technical bidding committee: contract services: repairs & refurbishment of production facilities (capex and non-capex) turnkey basis., shall preside over the bidding conference, with the participation of the division manager(s) and department head(s) concerned, internal audit manager & his team as observers.
• The bidders shall bring their sealed technical bids duly signed in a white short envelope.
• The Procurement Manager will open the sealed technical bids, individually in a random fashion, in the presence of the bidders themselves, the internal audit manager & his team, division and department heads concerned representing the end-users group, along with the procurement supervisor and his staff.
• The Procurement Manager will hold a close-door meeting with the Internal Audit Manager, along with division manager and department head concerned in order to screen out the qualified bidders who  will be qualified to proceed to the final phase of the bidding process, the Commercial Bidding Conference to be presided over by the Internal Audit Manager, with the Procurement Manager & his team as observers.
• The Procurement Manager, will announce in writing, the bidders who are qualified to proceed to the Commercial Bidding Conference and they will be informed to attend such conference accordingly.
• Bidders, who are invited to attend the technical or commercial bidding conference, but are unable to attend for any other reason whether valid or otherwise, are automatically disqualified from the bidding process.
• The Commercial Bidding Conference will be presided over by the Internal Audit Manager, along with the Procurement Manager & his team as observers .
• The Bidders shall bring their sealed commercial bids duly-signed in a white short envelope.
• The Internal Audit Manager shall open the sealed commercial bids, individually in a random fashion, in the presence of the bidders themselves, procurement manager and his staff, the internal audit staff, along with the Comptroller as observer.
• The Internal Audit Manager, as chairperson of such conference, will announce the winner of the bidding process during the Commercial Bidding Conference and his decision is final and executory, thus cannot be appealed unless flagrant violation of the governing rules are proven beyond reasonable doubt.
• The Company’s Comptroller, in his capacity as chairperson of the Top Management Bidding Committee, may or may not investigate alleged fraudulent act or any or coercion that may have direct influence on the outcome of the bidding process, subject to the evaluation of the merits of the appeal of the bidders involved.
• The Ethics Committee of the Top Management Bidding Committee, chaired by the Head, The Company’s Legal Staff Department, will evaluate the merits of the allegations and will come out with the proper recommendations within fifteen working days since the written appeal was submitted to the attention of The Company’s Comptroller.
• All Winners of the bidding process will be published in the Company’s website and will be published on two national dailies to affirm The Company’s commitment to transparency and accountability in all its business-transactions with all the bidders involved (supplier-contractors in particular and with the  public in general).
• The winning bidder will be asked to submit a performance bond amounting to not less than half of the total bid price of the project as a security bond of the Company during the construction phase of the project and shall be returned to the winning bidder after the completion of the project.
• The performance bond shall be issued by insurance companies chosen by the Company’s Comptroller.
• The winning contractor will be required to set up a mobilization fund to bankroll the construction of the project for the first three weeks before any cash advance request will be approved by the Comptroller.
• The contractor awarded with the project will be required to submit a progress report for the duration of the construction phase of the projects, based on which a corresponding billing report will be submitted to the Company’s Chief Accountant for review and  subsequent release of a series of payments for the contractor for the duration of the project construction.
• Corresponding penalties amounting to not less than 10% of the total project cost will be imposed upon the contractor who cannot meet the due date of the project’s completion. Performance bond will be withheld pending completion of the project.
• After completion of the project, the end-user will be evaluate the performance of the contractor and an evaluation report will be submitted to the Internal Audit Manager copy furnished The Comptroller, Procurement Manager, and the contractor concerned.

POLICY STATEMENT VIII:

It is the Company’s long-standing policy that the procurement of contract services particularly for the repairs and refurbishment of administrative buildings and facilities (capex and non-capex) turnkey basis will have to go through closely-supervised bidding process whereby the most deserving bidder, the who could give the Company the greatest degree of advantage in terms of cost-savings and top quality services, will be awarded with the coveted project in accordance with the Company’s long-held tradition of transparency and accountability executed under the highest degree of  corporate ethical standards.

PROCEDURES:

• Bidding ads are placed on national dailies and/or on emails to reach accredited contractors with good track record without pending legal cases in any business transaction.
• Interested Bidders are requested to send letter of intents (LOIs) to the procurement manager.
• The Procurement Manager shall invite them to attend pre-bidding conference at designated time and place.
• A technical bidding conference shall be set by the procurement manager and the bidders will be informed to attend accordingly.
• The VP-Engineering Services shall be the chairperson for the technical bidding conference - contract services re: repairs and refurbishment of administrative buildings and facilities (capex and non-capex) turnkey basis, shall preside over the bidding conference, with the participation of the division manager(s) and department head(s) concerned, internal audit manager & his team as observers.
• The bidders shall bring their sealed technical bids duly signed in a white short envelope.
• The Procurement Manager will open the sealed technical bids, individually in a random fashion, in the presence of the bidders themselves, the internal audit manager & his team, division and department heads concerned representing the end-users group, along with the procurement supervisor and his staff.
• The Procurement Manager will hold a close-door meeting with the Internal Audit Manager, along with division manager and department head concerned in order to screen out the qualified bidders who  will be qualified to proceed to the final phase of the bidding process, the Commercial Bidding Conference to be presided over by the Internal Audit Manager, with the Procurement Manager & his team as observers.
• The Procurement Manager, will announce in writing, the bidders who are qualified to proceed to the Commercial Bidding Conference and they will be informed to attend such conference accordingly.
• Bidders, who are invited to attend the technical or commercial bidding conference, but are unable to attend for any other reason whether valid or otherwise, are automatically disqualified from the bidding process.
• The Commercial Bidding Conference will be presided over by the Internal Audit Manager, along with the Procurement Manager & his team as observers .
• The Bidders shall bring their sealed commercial bids duly-signed in a white short envelope.
• The Internal Audit Manager shall open the sealed commercial bids, individually in a random fashion, in the presence of the bidders themselves, procurement manager and his staff, the internal audit staff, along with the Comptroller as observer.
• The Internal Audit Manager, as chairperson of such conference, will announce the winner of the bidding process during the Commercial Bidding Conference and his decision is final and executory, thus cannot be appealed unless flagrant violation of the governing rules are proven beyond reasonable doubt.
• The Company’s Comptroller, in his capacity as chairperson of the Top Management Bidding Committee, may or may not investigate alleged fraudulent act or any or coercion that may have direct influence on the outcome of the bidding process, subject to the evaluation of the merits of the appeal of the bidders involved.
• The Ethics Committee of the Top Management Bidding Committee, chaired by the Head, The Company’s Legal Staff Department, will evaluate the merits of the allegations and will come out with the proper recommendations within fifteen working days since the written appeal was submitted to the attention of The Company’s Comptroller.
• All Winners of the bidding process will be published in the Company’s website and will be published on two national dailies to affirm The Company’s commitment to transparency and accountability in all its business-transactions with all the bidders involved (supplier-contractors in particular and with the  public in general).
• The winning bidder will be asked to submit a performance bond amounting to not less than half of the total bid price of the project as a security bond of the Company during the construction phase of the project and shall be returned to the winning bidder after the completion of the project.
• The performance bond shall be issued by insurance companies chosen by the Company’s Comptroller.
• The winning contractor will be required to set up a mobilization fund to bankroll the construction of the project for the first three weeks before any cash advance request will be approved by the Comptroller.
• The contractor awarded with the project will be required to submit a progress report for the duration of the construction phase of the projects, based on which a corresponding billing report will be submitted to the Company’s Chief Accountant for review and  subsequent release of a series of payments for the contractor for the duration of the project construction.
• Corresponding penalties amounting to not less than 10% of the total project cost will be imposed upon the contractor who cannot meet the due date of the project’s completion. Performance bond will be withheld pending completion of the project.
• After completion of the project, the end-user will be evaluate the performance of the contractor and an evaluation report will be submitted to the Internal Audit Manager copy furnished The Comptroller, Procurement Manager, and the contractor concerned.

Policy Statement IX:

It is the Company’s long-standing policy that the procurement of contract services particularly maintenance and housekeeping of administrative and factory operations and/or production facilities shall have to undergo the closely-supervised bidding process whereby the most deserving bidder, the one who could give the Company the greatest degree of advantage in terms of cost-savings and top quality services, shall be awarded with the coveted project in accordance with the Company’s long-held tradition of transparency and accountability executed under the highest degree of corporate ethical standards.

Procedures:

• Bidding ads are placed on national dailies and/or on emails to reach accredited contractors with good track records and without pending legal cases in any business transaction.
• Interested Bidders are requested to send letter of intents (LOIs) to the procurement manager.
• The Procurement Manager shall invite them to attend pre-bidding conference at a designated time and place.
• A technical bidding conference shall be set by the procurement manager and the bidders will be informed to attend accordingly.
• The Head of the Corporate Assets Management Department shall be the chairperson for the technical bidding conference – contract services: Maintenance and Housekeeping of Administrative buildings and factory and/or production facilities, shall preside over the bidding conference, with the participation of the division manager(s) and department head(s) concerned, internal audit manager & his team as observers.
• The bidders shall bring their sealed technical bids duly signed in a white short envelope.
• The Procurement Manager will open the sealed technical bids, individually in a random fashion, in the presence of the bidders themselves, the internal audit manager & his team, division and department heads concerned representing the end-users group, along with the procurement supervisor and his staff.
• The Procurement Manager will hold a close-door meeting with the Internal Audit Manager, along with division manager and department head concerned in order to screen out the qualified bidders who  will be qualified to proceed to the final phase of the bidding process, the Commercial Bidding Conference to be presided over by the Internal Audit Manager, with the Procurement Manager & his team as observers.
• The Procurement Manager, will announce in writing, the bidders who are qualified to proceed to the Commercial Bidding Conference and they will be informed to attend such conference accordingly.
• Bidders, who are invited to attend the technical or commercial bidding conference, but are unable to attend for any other reason whether valid or otherwise, are automatically disqualified from the bidding process.
• The Commercial Bidding Conference will be presided over by the Internal Audit Manager, along with the Procurement Manager & his team as observers .
• The Bidders shall bring their sealed commercial bids duly-signed in a white short envelope.
• The Internal Audit Manager shall open the sealed commercial bids, individually in a random fashion, in the presence of the bidders themselves, procurement manager and his staff, the internal audit staff, along with the Comptroller as observer.
• The Internal Audit Manager, as chairperson of such conference, will announce the winner of the bidding process during the Commercial Bidding Conference and his decision is final and executory, thus cannot be appealed unless flagrant violation of the governing rules are proven beyond reasonable doubt.
• The Company’s Comptroller, in his capacity as chairperson of the Top Management Bidding Committee, may or may not investigate alleged fraudulent act or any or coercion that may have direct influence on the outcome of the bidding process, subject to the evaluation of the merits of the appeal of the bidders involved.
• The Ethics Committee of the Top Management Bidding Committee, chaired by the Head, The Company’s Legal Staff Department, will evaluate the merits of the allegations and will come out with the proper recommendations within fifteen working days since the written appeal was submitted to the attention of The Company’s Comptroller.
• All winners of the bidding process will be published in the Company’s website and will be published on two national dailies to affirm The Company’s commitment to transparency and accountability in all its business-transactions with all the bidders involved (supplier-contractors in particular and with the  public in general).
• The winning bidder will be asked to submit a performance bond amounting to not less than half of the total bid price of the project as a security bond of the Company during the construction phase of the project and shall be returned to the winning bidder after the completion of the project.
• The performance bond shall be issued by insurance companies chosen by the Company’s Comptroller.
• The winning contractor will be required to set up a mobilization fund to bankroll the construction of the project for the first three weeks before any cash advance request will be approved by the Comptroller.
• The contractor awarded with the project will be required to submit a progress report for the duration of the construction phase of the projects, based on which a corresponding billing report will be submitted to the Company’s Chief Accountant for review and  subsequent release of a series of payments for the contractor for the duration of the project construction.
• Corresponding penalties amounting to not less than 10% of the total project cost will be imposed upon the contractor who cannot meet the due date of the project’s completion. Performance bond will be withheld pending completion of the project.
• After completion of the project, the end-user will be evaluate the performance of the contractor and an evaluation report will be submitted to the Internal Audit Manager copy furnished The Comptroller, Procurement Manager, and the contractor concerned.

Policy Stat X:

It is the Company’s long-standing policy that the Signatories of Purchase Order (PO), Service Order (SO) - (Amount below Php 50,000.00), Supply or Service Contracts shall comprise of the following:

• Treasurer and Resident Manager - Amount Over Php 4,000,000.00
• Comptroller and Assistant Treasurer - Amount Over Php 1,000,000 but not exceeding Php 4,000,000.00
• VP-Manufacturing - Amount Over Php 500,000.00 but not exceeding Php 1,000,000.00
• VP-Engineering - Amount between Php 100,000.00 to Php 500,000.00
• Division Manager, Corporate Planning Services - Amount Over Php 50,000.00 but not exceeding Php 99,999.00
• Procurement Manager - Amount below Php 50,000.00

Procedures:

• The Company’s procurement department comes up with computer-generated the Purchase Order (PO) forms, Service Order (SO) forms.
• The Company’s legal staff department prepares the supply or service contracts as per advice of the procurement manager or supervisor.
• Procurement staff distributes the POs, SOs, Contracts to authorized signatories.
• Authorized Signatories sign these documents.
• Procurement Supervisor gives these duly-signed forms and contracts to the supplier or contractor awarded with the supply or service of the item(s) or job(s) to be delivered or to be undertaken.
• The Supplier delivers the materials, supplies or equipment to the Receiving Department staff, who in turn, verify the pertinent documents and will contact the end-user(s) concerned to inspect and accept or reject the deliveries based on product specifications.
• The Contractor performs the job or task to be undertaken
• The Procurement Department’s service staff will inspect the job or services performed in coordination with the end-user(s) or project proponent concerned and prepares an evaluation report for processing of payment or rejection of work and recommends appropriate actions to address any adverse situation for possible re-worked of the job or service undertaken.
• Should there be no technical problems, no off-specs or delivery problems as regards the materials & supplies delivered or service or project undertaken, the Supplier or Contractor receives payment from the Company’s Cashier Department on a designated schedule on weekdays.
• The Company’s Procurement Department designates a supplier’s or contractor’s day whereby the supplier or contractor can enter factory or engineering operations to present their products or services to the end-user(s) concerned for possible sourcing out of materials or expertise for the Company’s operations.