MPIC-Ayala group bags P65-B Cavite LRT deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has awarded the P65-billion Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT-1) extension up to Bacoor in Cavite to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and conglomerate Ayala Corp.

Michael Arthur Sagcal, DOTC spokesman, yesterday said the Light Rail Manila Consortium has 20 days to comply with the post-award requirements, including the partial payment of its P9.35-billion premium offer.

Sagcal said the Light Rail Manila Consortium would have to pay 10 percent of P9.35 billion, with the balance payable during the concession period.

Upon compliance, a concession agreement for the largest public private partnership (PPP) project would be signed, he said.

The lead member of the group is MPIC Light Rail Corp. with 55 percent, while Ayala’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. has 35 percent and Macquaire Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte Ltd., 10 percent.

The award was made after Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya sought a legal opinion from the Office of the Solicitor General after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the government from transferring the location of a proposed P1.4-billion common train station to Trinoma mall instead of SM City North EDSA.

The Light Rail Manila Consortium was the lone group that submitted a bid last May 28 where it offered a premium payment of P9.35 billion to undertake the project.

Other bidders including diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) through SMC Infra Resources Inc., construction giant DMCI Holdings Inc., Filipino-owned Megawide Construction Corp., Spanish-owned Globalvia Inversiones SAU, Eco Rail Services Inc. of businessman Reghis Romero II and Malaysian-owned MTD Philippines Inc. did not submit bids.

Both the National Economic and Development Authority board chaired by President Aquino as well as the joint Bids and Awards Committee  of the DOTC and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) recommended the award of the PPP project to the lone bidder.

However, SM Prime Holdings Inc. of retail and banking magnate Henry Sy obtained a TRO from the high tribunal preventing the DOTC from transferring the location of the common train station in front of Trinoma Mall instead of SM City North EDSA based on an agreement in 2009.

Abaya insisted that the injunction was on the transfer of the common station and not the P65-billion project.

The Cavite extension project would increase the span of Line 1 from 20.7 kilometers to 32.4 kilometers with a new south endpoint in Niog, Bacoor, Cavite. The extension would open up the Line 1 services to the nearly four million residents of Parañaque, Las Piñas and the province of Cavite.

More than half of the cost of the PPP project will cover the construction of the tracks, the stations and all its attendant facilities, while P30 billion will be used to purchase the trains to be funded by the government through official development assistance.