Page 102 - May 2018 - December 2018 Issue

101, what are the essential requisites of a
Contracts and
the Bible
By Clarence Elmer T. Quismundo,
Contracts Administration
I was recalling the past few weeks as I
regularly do, contemplating on recent
activities and events while at the same time
preparing for our Annual Management
Conference in Cebu last August 2018, when
it dawned on me that the past month had
been quite good for MPT South.
The Environmental Clearance Certificate
(ECC) for CALAEx Cavite Segment has been
secured, a long-awaited site access for a
critical area at CALAEX Laguna Segment
was cleared, substantial accomplishments
were achieved at the C-5 South Link and R-1
Enhancement Projects, our Original
Proponent Status for the
Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway
(CTBEx) Project has been issued, and (after
a 10-month Procurement and Negotiation
period) the Contract for the MPT South Toll
Collection System (TCS) was finally signed.
Despite the still daunting challenges that
await us, we have a lot of reasons to feel
positive.
During the said TCS Contract Signing last
August 7, 2018, I heard some very valuable
words of wisdom from one of the principal
signatories. To sum it up, the contract that
was signed on that day is not perfect by
itself but represents the collective
understanding and agreement of the
negotiating parties. Acceptable
compromises were made by both sides to
make it possible. Now it’s time for the real
work to start, so we need to put the
101 | NEWS AND EVENTS
contract? These are Offer, Consideration and
Acceptance. Interesting, now where in the
Bible can we find them? Let’s start from the
Beginning – Genesis, of course.
contract in the shelf with the hope that we
will never have to use it to resolve any
disputes, which is not the intention of the
document but rather to set the rules on how
the project can be satisfactorily completed.
As I was digesting the above with Atty. Dacky
Casino (Supply Chain and Risk Management
Vice President), I seconded that there is
really no such thing as a perfect contract. If
we wait for a contract to be perfect, we will
not be able to start anything. If there is any
such contract, and if you are a believer, that
would be the Bible. And yet, despite being
said to be inspired by God and thus should
be perfect, there are several different
interpretations made by different people.
That is because those people were never
there when the covenant (as it is sometimes
called) was written. Hence, they never really
fully understood the intent.
In this context, it is very important to
maintain a record of every notes and
discussions made between the negotiating
parties. Those notes show the history of how
the document was drafted, and the process
it undertook before it was produced in its
final form. In times of ambiguity, the notes
would serve a valuable purpose in tracing
the intentions of the parties.
Going back to the Bible, it is my firm belief
that the Bible is indeed a contract between
God and man. Allow me make a mental
exercise to prove it. Remember our Contracts