DOTC defers bidding for P17.5B Mactan airport expansion project

CEBU, Philippines - The deadline for submission of bids for the P17.5 billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport project has been moved to a later date due to changes in the public-private partnership (PPP) project’s concession agreement, a Cabinet official said yesterday.

“The concession agreement will be finalized end of August and it is mandatory for the government to give at least 30 days after issuing final concession agreement before the bidding date,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said in a text message to reporters.     

But MCIA general manager Nigel Paul Villarete said the bidding would still continue and that he has not received any order for its suspension. 

“No, I didn’t get any order. The bidding was not suspended. It is live, ongoing, and continuing, pursuant to R.A. 7718 and its Revised IRR,” Villarete told The FREEMAN yesterday.

Villarete said the Prequalification, Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) already completed the second round meetings with the pre-qualified bidders.

“As of last week, the PBAC has completed the second round of one-on-one meetings with the pre-qualified bidders for the clarifications of their queries on the correct interpretation of the provisions of the draft Concession Agreement (CA), as provided for under Sec. 2 of the Revised IRR. DOTC is targeting to issue the final form of the CA by Friday, and subsequently, setting the bid submission date, which will be between 45 to 75 days from the date of CA issuance,” he said.

Villarete added that the bid submission date will be announced next week or earlier.

The deadline of the technical and financial proposals were due Tuesday.

  Among the prequalified bidders for the P17.5 billion infrastructure project are:

ʉۢ AAA Airport Partners led by conglomerate Ayala Corp. and Cebu-based Aboitiz Equity Ventures together with Houston airport operator ADC&HAS;

•Filinvest-CAI Consortium of taipan Andrew Gotianun together with Singapore’s Changi Airport;

•Lopez-led First Philippine Airports together with New Zealand’s Infratil Asia Limited;

•GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium that includes India’s Delhi Airport;

• MPIC-JGS Airport Consortium composed of the tandem of Manuel Pangilinan-led infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and JG Summit Holdings of tycoon John L. Gokongwei Jr. together with Aeroports de Lyon of France;

• Premier Airport Group of led by retail magnate Henry Sy together with Switzerland’s Zurich Airport operators; and

• San Miguel-Incheon Airport Consortium of Ramon Ang’s diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. and the operator of South Korea’s Incheon Airport.

Several revisions in the PPP’s concession agreement were made following one-on-one meetings between the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and pre-qualified bidders. Issues resolved include who would shoulder the real property tax, among others.

MCIA project aims to modernize the country’s second-largest aviation hub through the construction of a new world-class international passenger terminal building with a capacity of eight million passengers.

It also involves the renovation of the existing terminal building, where 6.7 million passengers went through the 4.5-million passenger-capacity facility last year. — GMA News/LPM  (FREEMAN)