DPWH set to decide today on SMC bid for calax project

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to decide today on the validity of the bid submitted by San Miguel Corp. (SMC) for the P35.4 billion Cavite Laguna Expressway (CALAX)project.

DPWH Undersecretary Rafael Yabut said the agency’s special bids and awards committee (SBAC) is expected to convene again today to evaluate the additional documents submitted by SMC’s Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc.

“We just got the letter of clarification from Optimal Infrastructure,” Yabut said in a text message.

The DPWH earlier gave SMC more time to further clarify the validity of its bid security for the public private partnership (PPP) project.

 The agency met with in-house consultants KPMG and ACCRA Law Office, the Department of Finance (DOF) and the  PPP   Center  on Monday to discuss the issues raised by the three other bidders against the SMC unit.

 Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center executive director Cosette Canilao said the SBAC is now reviewing the letter submitted by Optimal Infrastructure. “We are reviewing the letter,” Canilao said in a text message.

 Last Friday, DPWH failed to resolve the issues raised by raised by Malaysia’s Alloy MTD Philippines, Team “Orion” of conglomerate Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Group as well as MPCALA Holdings Inc. of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).

 The three bidders questioned the compliance of the proposal submitted by Optimal Infrastructure last June 2 particularly on the validity of its bid security as well as the packaging and labelling of its proposal.

 SMC earlier said its unit is fully compliant with the bid requirements for the toll road project as ANZ Bank has issued a certification that the company’s bid security is valid until Nov. 29 and not Nov. 25.

Mark Dumol, president of SMC’s Private Infra Development Corp. (PIDC), said the DPWH should not be distracted by the small issues being raised by the three other bidders of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project.

“Are they intimidated by our financial bid that they now choose to find the tiniest fault in the bid submission? Clearly, the government gets the best price if there are several bidders,”Dumol said.

He pointed out that the petty complaints of some bidders were understandable considering that SMC has always been known in full support of the government’s privatization efforts through its aggressive bids.

He cited the case of the P15 billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expressway wherein the diversified conglomerate offered an upfront cash payment of P11 billion compared to the P350 million offer made by MPIC.

According to him, at least five bidders submitted bids ranging from P4.7 billion to P14.4 billion wherein the tandem of Filipino-owned Megawide Construction Corp. and Bangalore-based GMR Group bagged the P17.5 billion  Mactan   Cebu   International   Airport  expansion project.

Dumol is confident that the DPWH and the  PPP   Center  would decide on the merits and would not be swayed by underhanded maneuvering because it has always espoused a policy of encouraging wider bid competition.

“The entity that submits the highest financial bid to the government wins,” Dumol stressed.

The project involves the financing, design and construction, operation and maintenance of the entire four-lane, 47 kilometer closed-system tolled expressway connecting the  South Luzon  expressway (SLEX) and the Manila Cavite Tollroad expressway (Cavitex).

These provinces also serve as catchment areas for the residential population of Metro Manila resulting in traffic congestion on the major road networks in the area, particularly on the  Aguinaldo Highway , Governor’s Drive, and  Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road .