1018: Danville Maritime v COA

Facts:
Disapproval of the result of a public bidding held by the PNOC by COA
1988, the PNOC BoD passed a resolution authorizing the sale by public bidding
of its tanker-vessel T/T Andres Bonifacio
Floor price was set at US$14M with a 10% deposit. Bids were to be made on
Sept. 1, 1988
Danville Maritime, Inc was the sole bidder (US$14,158,888.88)
COA issued a memorandum stating:
The contract must first be submitted to COA
The bidding suffers deficiency due to the lack of competition
Negotiation was not applicable
Oct 12, 1988, PNOC received an offer from Fearnly Finans, a Norwegian
company, to buy the vessel at least US$1M more than Danvilles
PNOC BoD ordered a rebidding pursuant to the COA directive
Issue:
W/N COA committed GADALEJ when it ruled that there was a failure of bidding
when there was only one bid and subsequently ordered a rebidding
Decision:
COA Cir No 88-264: There should be at least two bidders, otherwise there is a
failure of bidding
Negotiated sale may only be undertaken after the failure of the second bidding
Only the SC can review the decisions made by COA