Section 8
SEC. 8. Paragraphs (a), (b) and (d) of Section seven of the same Act are hereby amended to read as follows: "(a) To negotiate and conclude with the Japanese Government the agreed annual schedule on the basis and within the limits of the tentative annual schedule of goods and services prepared by the Commission. The Mission shall not negotiate with the Japanese Government for the inclusion of any item or project in the annual reparations schedule unless (1) it has previously received a copy each of the application therefor and the required project study duly certified by the Commission, and (2) the item or project is included in the tentative schedule, both duly approved in accordance with this Act. "(b) To conclude, on behalf of the Philippine Government, contracts directly with any Japanese national or any Japanese entity controlled by Japanese nationals in order to procure the desired goods and/or services. The Mission shall procure goods and services on the basis of the agreed schedule and the procurement order received from the Commission. The Mission shall prepare proposed contracts only after all the requirements specified in this Act shall have been complied with. The amount of the contract for each project shall not in any case exceed the amount specified in the corresponding procurement order. "No official or employee of the Government of the Philippines or of any of its subdivisions or instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations, shall intervene in any manner whatsoever in procurement or reparations goods and/or services or in negotiating or concluding reparations contracts with any Japanese national or entity unless such intervention is in connection with an application from the government sector and is expressly requested by the Mission with the approval of the President. "In procuring goods and services from any Japanese national or entity, whether through public bidding or negotiated sale, the Mission shall in no case entertain any bid nor negotiate any sale with any Japanese national or entity who had once been discovered in any previous contract with the Mission to have unduly overpriced goods or delivered goods of inferior quality or not according to the agreed specification or unreasonably delayed delivery of goods or for any similar reason. "(d) To conduct public bidding or to procure directly from specific manufacturers, producers, or suppliers concerned as provided herein. With respect to the procurement order both of Philippine Government offices, agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations, and/or private parties no award shall be made by the Mission except after a public bidding with sealed bid: Provided, That where the bids are unsatisfactory, as when the goods are unduly overpriced, or of inferior quality, or when the suppliers combine to defeat the purpose of public bidding, or for any other like reason the Mission may conduct another public bidding or procure the goods by negotiated sale: Provided, further, That when no bid is submitted after two consecutive invitations to bid are issued for the same goods with an interval of not less than thirty days, the Mission may, with the approval of the Commission, procure the goods by negotiated, sale, for the purpose of protecting the interest of the government. The Mission shall publish invitations to bid in three newspapers of general circulation in Japan every other day for three consecutive times: Provided, That the specifications and descriptions of the goods for which bids are called shall be sufficiently general to permit more than one supplier and/or manufacturer to bid, and that the bidding shall be held not earlier than fifteen days after the last publication. The Mission shall endeavor to procure the goods directly from the manufacturers, producers, or through their duly authorized representatives."