DPWH defers award of P35.4-B CALAX project

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has suspended indefinitely the awarding of the P35.4 billion Cavite – Laguna expressway project to the highest bidder project pending the resolution of the appeal filed by diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in Malacañang.

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson said the agency’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) would have to wait for the resolution of the Notice of Appeal filed by SMC’s Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. before the Office of the President before it could proceed with the issuance of the Notice of Award to Team Orion.

“(The) appeal has to be resolved first. That is their right to appeal directly with the Office of the President and there is nothing we can do,” Singson said in a text message.

He pointed out that the agency is ready to defend its decision on the disqualification of Optimal Infrastructure in the opening of the financial bids for the government’s largest public private partnership (PPP) project last June 13.

“We will answer them when we get their appeal memorandum,” he explained.

“Team Orion,” – a 50-50 partnership between conglomerate Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Land Inc., submitted the highest bid of P11.659 billion followed by MP CALA Holdings Inc. of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) with P11.33 billion, and Malaysian-owned Alloy MTD Philippines with P922 million.

The DPWH issued a resolution dated June 11 announcing the disqualification of Optimal Infrastructure for violating several provisions of the bidding rules particularly the provision on bid security as it was short of the 180-day validity period requirement.

After a series of appeals with the DPWH, SMC was forced to elevate the case before the Office of the President where it filed a 37-page Notice of Appeal last June 27.

In the appeal, Optimal Infrastructure said its disqualification from the bidding process “needlessly prejudices” private participation in public infrastructure projects just because of an “inadvertent and harmless typographical error (which was later on clarified and corrected).”

“As such, this decision defeats the constitutional policy of encouraging private sector participation in national development, as well as the declared policy of the Amended BOT Law. This Honorable Office should not allow this blatant error to remain uncorrected,” the disqualified bidder stated in the appeal.

Last June 30, the Office of the President has directed DPWH to defer the implementation of the resolution while the appeal is still pending before the Palace.

In the two-page order, Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs Michael Aguinaldo cited Administrative Order No. 22 dated Oct. 11, 2011 entitled “Prescribing Rules and Regulations Governing Appeal to the Office of the President of the Philippines.