Winning bidder for NAIA tollway known this week

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to announce the winning bidder for the proposed P15.86-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expressway project this week.

Cosette Canilao, executive director of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, said in an interview with reporters that both diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) are set to slug it out for the project.

SMC’s Optimal Infrastructure Development Corp. and MPIC’s Manila North Tollways Luzon Corp. (MNTC) submitted their technical and financial bids last April 8 while the ACI consortium led by conglomerate Ayala Corp. and IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd. did not submit their respective bids.

Under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law, the government is set to implement the pass or fail scheme on the technical proposals.

“In accordance with the BOT law, it’s just pass or fail. Once a bidder passes, the opening of its financial bid will be allowed,” Canilao stressed

According to her the technical working group (TWG) of the DPWH had already gone through the technical proposals of Optimal Infrastructure and MNTC.

She said the DPWH has not found any deficiency in either of the two technical bids. 

The proposed four-lane, 7.75-kilometer elevated expressway and 2.22 km at-grade feeder road would alleviate existing and future traffic problems going to and from the NAIA.

It would provide access to NAIA Terminals 1, 2, and 3 linking the Skyway in the South Luzon expressway (SLEX) and the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex). 

It starts at the existing Skyway then follows the existing road alignments over Sales Avenue, Andrews Avenue, Domestic Road, and NAIA Road, and has entry/exit ramps at Roxas Boulevard, Macapagal Boulevard, and PAGCOR City.

The project involves the improvement of Phase 1, the construction of phase 2, the construction of at-grade feeder roads leading to and from PAGCOR Entertainment City, and the operation and maintenance.

The first phase of the road project was completed by Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. through the construction of an off-ramp that leads to the front of the NAIA Terminal 3.