MANILA, Philippines - Infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is looking at reviving plans to sell at least a 20-percent stake in Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) in preparation for the participation of other major infrastructure projects to be undertaken by the Aquino administration.
MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez said the plan could be revived next year amid the plan of MPIC to join the bidding for Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.
“It is feasible if there will be other projects that will be coming to us like the Laguna Lakeshore and the integrated transport system (ITS),” he said.
MPIC announced last May that at least two foreign investors have expressed interest in taking a 20 to 30 percent stake worth P16 billion to P24 billion in MPTC.
However, the plan was put on hold after MPIC through MP CALA Holdings failed to win the contract for the P35.4 billion Cavite – Laguna expressway (Calax) project. The PPP project has yet to be awarded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to the tandem of conglomerate Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Land Inc. or Team Orion that submitted the highest bid of P11.659 billion.
Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has filed an appeal before the Office of the President questioning the decision of the DPWH to disqualify its unit – Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. (OIDI) from the bidding. It submitted a bid of P20.105 billion for the project.
“We are still waiting for the right time because we originally plan (to sell) had we won the Calax bidding,” Fernandez said.
Likewise, he added that MPIC is also awaiting the decision of the government on its planned P18-billion toll road that would connect the North Luzon and South Luzon expressways.
“We are really okay whether they tell us to undertake it through the joint venture or they tell us to go unsolicited. But if they ask us our preference, we prefer the joint venture (scheme) because it is more expeditious,” he said.
The NLEX SLEX connector project was originally submitted to the DPWH in May 2010 under the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) Law. As early as August 2012, the government was supposed to undertake the Swiss Challenge process as stated under the BOT Law.
However, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) recommended that MPIC’s Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC) enter into a joint venture agreement with PNCC to expedite the connector road project.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a legal opinion last July stating that the project should be reverted back to the unsolicited proposal and should be subjected to a Swiss Challenge.
“We also believe both options are legal. The government should thresh out the issue since the country is losing P2.4 billion a day due to traffic,” Fernandez added.