Probe won't delay airport expansion

CEBU, Philippines - The ongoing congressional investigation into the expansion project of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport does not necessarily delay the project contrary to the opinion of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.

North District Rep. Raul del Mar, one of the Cebu lawmakers who initiated the investigation, said that any of the bidders of the P17.5 billion contract to expand the airport may get the award should there be deficiencies of the bids of the highest bidder.

Del Mar said that it is a misconception that the House inquiry will only cause further delay of the project.

"We want the truth to come out," said Del Mar.

The congressional hearing was done after all nine Cebuano lawmakers submitted a resolution last month, asking the House Committee on Transportation "to conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, on the complaints of conflict of interest and questionable financial capacity and other possible violations on qualification requirements against the highest financial bidder in the bidding for the MCIA terminal public-private partnership project."

Aside from the House of Representatives, an investigation is also being conducted in the Senate.

The inquiries stemmed from the complaint filed by the Filinvest-Changi consortium, the second highest bidder, against the highest bidder, GMR-Megawide consortium, for allegedly violating the bidding regulations.

Del Mar said that the Pre-Qualification Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) of DOTC should evaluate both the bids of GMR-Megawide consortium as well as the Filinvest-Changi consortium.

 He said that there is a mechanism set that should their bids found to be deficient, the next bidders should be evaluated and award the contract to the one deserving.

During the House inquiry last week, the DOTC had assured Cebuano legislators and other concerned parties that it will resolve the issues before this month ends.

"They assured us to fast track their evaluation, at least they gave us time frame by end of the month," said Del Mar, adding that they did not intend to delay the process.

In a statement, Louie Ferrer, chief marketing officer of Megawide, said the group is optimistic that it won the bidding conducted by the DOTC last December for the expansion of the country's second largest international gateway.

He pointed out that the tandem of Megawide and GMR Airports would be guided by President Aquino's vision of integrity and world standards in its infrastructure projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) program.

Ferrer issued the statement after DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla confirmed that the agency's bids and awards committee would finally issue a notice of award for the project before the end of the month.

The Megawide-GMR Group submitted the highest bid of P14.404 billion for the project last Dec. 12 followed by the Filinvest-CAI Consortium with P13.999 billion, and Premier Airport Group of SM Group of retail magnate Henry Sy with P12.5 billion.

The MPIC-JGS Airport consortium led by infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and JG Summit Holdings submitted a bid of P11.23 billion while AAA  Airport Partners led by the conglomerate Ayala Group and Cebu-based Aboitiz Land forwarded a bid of P11.088 billion.

The San Miguel Corp.-Incheon Airport consortium submitted a bid of P9.05 billion while the Lopez groups' First Philippine Airports submitted the lowest bid of P4.7 billion.

However, the awarding of the project has been delayed due to the allegations made by the Filinvest Group on the alleged conflict of interest committed by the Megawide-GMR Group in violation of the bidding rules. — (FREEMAN)