New guidelines set for SCTEX price challenge

MANILA, Philippines - State-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has approved the guidelines for the Swiss challenge on the maintenance and operations management of the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

In a statement yesterday, BCDA said its board of directors approved the guidelines this week.

“We are confident that the bidding will result in the best deal for government and motorists. Transparent and competitive biddings are a hallmark of the Aquino administration and have proven to be always beneficial to the public interest,” BCDA president and chief executive officer Arnel Paciano D. Casanova said.

The BCDA is bidding out the rights, interest and obligations in the management, operation and maintenance of the SCTEX under a business and operating agreement for a period of 28 years ending in 2043.

The SCTEX, a four-lane divided expressway, traverses the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga and Tarlac and is directly linked to the North Luzon Expressway.

The BCDA and MNTC signed a business operating agreement on SCTEX in 2011, subject to the approval of the President.

Under the business and operating agreement, MNTC will operate and manage SCTEX for 33 years, while relieving BCDA of payment of the P34-billion debt to the Japan International Cooperation Agency for the construction of the tollway.

Malacañang has ordered the price challenge for the SCTEX maintenance and operations management in the interest of transparency.

The BCDA said MNTC will have the right to match the highest bid for the project with the price challenge.

Interested proponents are expected to submit proposals higher than MNTC’s upfront cash offer of P3.5 billion in addition to the 50-50 sharing of gross revenues.

Created in 1992, the BCDA is mandated to transform former US military bases into alternative productive civilian use.