PPA mulls P3-B bond float for North Harbor rehab

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is looking at the possibility of floating some P3-billion worth of bonds to finance the rehabilitation of the Manila North Harbor.

PPA administrator Manuel Cusi said that a bond flotation will be resorted to in case efforts to convince the private sector to finance the project via a build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme fail.

The PPA expects to conduct the bidding for the whole project, which consists of three phases, during the first quarter of this year. "In case any of the components fail to attract bidders, then we will have to undertake these on our own and finance them via the flotation of bonds," Cusi said.

The Manila North Harbor master plan involves a series of reclamations, improvements, merging of piers, construction of a new quay, establishment of a passenger terminal building, and reinforcement/repair works for the proposed three phases starting at the marine slipway going southward to Pier 2. The whole project is expected to take about three years to complete.

According to Cusi, they expect to finalize the terms of reference for the BOT scheme which is being reviewed by the Coordinating Council for Private Sector Participation and the bidding mechanics to be finalized this week.

The PPA chief said that based on the outcome of the bidding, the agency will then submit to the Department of Finance a proposal to float the bonds. "Right now, we are already doing the viability and other studies relating to the bond float so that we will be ready to make any submissions to the DOF after all the bidding are conducted," he said.

Cusi said he believes the BOT scheme will succeed. "The P3 billion is the maximum that we may float. But it might be less depending on the outcome of the biddings," he said.