THE Korean company that submitted the lowest bid for the supply of 44,080 armor vests for the Marines and the Army, but was disqualified at the post-bidding stage by the Department of National Defense’s Bids and Awards Committed (DND-BAC), has asked the panel to reconsider its decision.
Kolon Global Corp., through its lawyers Dennis Manalo,
Noel Lazaro and Darwin Ocampo, asked the DND-BAC, headed by Defense Assistant
Secretary Efren Fernandez, to reconsider its earlier decision and reinstate the
company as the winner, owing to the “absence of legal and justifiable reasons
by the committee.”
“The grounds you relied upon in post-disqualifying
Kolon are bereft of support, either from the bidding documents, where there are
categorical, positive and unmistakable definition or, where not so defined
therein, from the widely and internationally accepted standard design of
measurement,” the lawyers said in the reconsideration they filed for the Korean
company on November 15.
“Accordingly, Kolon respectfully pleads for the
reconsideration of our client’s post-disqualification and requests for its
reinstatement as the winning bidder of the project,” they added.
Manalo, Lazaro and Ocampo asked the DND-BAC to
seriously look into the merits of the proposal of the Korean company and rule
in its favor, otherwise it will not only violate the government’s procurement
process, but even reinforces the belief that it is playing favorites.
“Any unwarranted and unjustifiable claim to the
contrary trivializes the country’s procurement policy and effort, especially in
these trying times, and lends credence to a possibility that the BAC is playing
favorites instead of weighing our client’s merits,” the three lawyers said in
their letter.
Kolon maintained that it did not only meet the
requirements of the DND for the soldiers’ force-protection gear, but even
surpassed industry standards.
The DND-BAC has accepted, evaluated and considered the
bid of P800 million by Kolon for the P1.763.2- billion armor vests of the Army
and the Marines, but it later disqualified Kolon in a post-qualification
meeting on November 11, because it claimed the ballistic inserts (armor plates)
of the Korean vest manufacturer are of “single-curve design” and the samples
have shorter dimensional measurements than required.
The DND-BAC required a “multi-curve design” for the
ballistic inserts “to avoid the possibility of body injury due to secondary
impact of plate to the body upon the bullet impact, create an angle of
incidence for increased bullet deflection and for better ergonomic fitting and
comfort.”
However, the lawyers said the BAC erred in declaring
that Kolon’s body armors are single-curve in design.
“Our client’s design is multi-curve. Kolon uses human
factors in engineering data points within a three-axis plane to decide on the
radius used in its plates. The curvature of the plate follows the shape of the
human torso as closely as possible in order to maximize performance and
comfort,” they said.
“Kolon had already taken into consideration the
contours in the body in making its body armors,” they added. “In fact, Kolon
has made various scientific studies to surpass industry standards and provide
the best protection possible.”
“The DND without any substantial justification
deprived Kolon of its right to be awarded as the winning bidder. Our client
offered the best bid for the project. In fact, it was even declared as the
Lowest Calculated Bid-- the second lowest bid trailing behind by a staggering
P357,000,000,” the three lawyers said.
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/news/nation/23115-disqualified-armor-vest-supplier-seeks-dnd-panel-s-reconsideration
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