Butuan contractor loses P7.3-M project over misspelled name

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – Because of a misspelled name, a construction firm has been disqualified from bidding for a government project worth P7.3 million in Agusan del Sur.

In a seven-page protest, Cornelio Macoto, owner of Joan Construction, said he submitted his bids to the provincial public works and highways department for the construction of two covered courts in Barangays Alegria and Caimpugan, both in San Francisco town.

Records showed three other construction firms – LM Construction and General Marketing, DBMR Builders and Supply and ROIM Builders and Construction Supply – also submitted their bids.

A check by the Agusan del Sur public works with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) office in Manila allegedly showed that only Joan Construction was eligible to bid.

But last Aug. 20, Macoto received a notice of disqualification signed by bids and award committee chairman Manuel Nario and district engineer Marcelino Operario, both of the DPWH-Agusan del Sur second district engineering office.

The notice said Joan Construction failed to pass the post-qualification process as it allegedly falsified its bid document.

The notice said Macoto’s bid document bore a misspelled name of the firm’s safety officer Jose Malaque. It said Macoto’s bid document spelled “Malaque” as “Malque.”

Aside from a misspelled name, the DPWH noted the firm’s key personnel having overlapping assignments as another reason for its disqualification.

In his appeal, Macoto denied falsifying the document. He said it was a mere clerical error.