DPWH moves deadline for CALA toll road bidding

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has pushed back the submission of bids for the P35.4 billion  Cavite  – Laguna Expressway to give interested bidders more time to prepare their documents.

DPWH assistant secretary Eugenio Pipo Jr. issued Special Bid Bulletin No. 33 deferring the deadline for the submission of bids for the public private partnership (PPP) project to June 2 instead of May 21.

“In response to the request for additional time to prepare, complete, and finalize all bid documents, the bid proposal submission date is move from May 21 to June 2,” Pipo stated in the bulletin dated May 9.

The agency earlier issued Supplemental Bid Bulletin No. 32 containing the changes to the instruction to bidders for the PPP project.

Major revision to the guidelines requires bidders to submit a bid in the form of the viability gap funding (VGP), or subsidy not to exceed P5 billion, or the bid that would be paid to the government as concession payment.

This was in sharp contrast to the original guidelines wherein the basis of the bid was the toll fee per kilometer for Class 1 vehicles in 2018.

“The amount the bidder requires from the VGP, which shall be from zero to a maximum amount of P5 billion, or the amount which the bidder shall pay the DPWH as concession payment if the bidder does not require any amount from the VGF,” the DPWH stated in the revised provision.

In case of bids in the form of concession payments, the agency said it would not impose a ceiling on the amount to be submitted by the bidders.

Under the revised guidelines of the DPWH, bidders who would offer a premium instead of asking for a subsidy would likely win the PPP project.

The Aquino government is doing everything it can to avoid paying subsidy for major infrastructure projects to generate much needed savings.

“If all bidders with complying proposals require VGF, the bid amount of the bidder with the lowest required VGF shall be considered as the best complying bid. If one or more of the bidders with complying financial proposals submit a bid amount consisting of concession payment to the DPWH, the bid amount that offers the highest concession payment shall be considered the best complying bid,” the DPWH said.

The DPWH pointed out that bidders who would submit a combination of both VGF and concession payment, as well as conditional bids would be disqualified.