The transportation department will move forward with the bidding of the P108.2-billion contract for the development of five airports around the country, but will take a different approach in auctioning these off. Cherie Mercado-Santos, the spokesman of the transport agency, said the department plans to unbundle the contract and bid them out separately.
“I think the plan with the regional airports is to desegmentize them than put them into one cluster,” she said in a news briefing on Tuesday.
Santos noted that the government must decide on this in the shortest time possible, “because it needs to be opened for bidding.”
The previous administration started the auction for the contract to develop and operate five airports around the Philippines in two packages to make the projects more enticing to investors.
The first package consists of the Bacolod-Silay Airport (P20.26 billion) and the Iloilo Airport (P30.40 billion), while the second bundle is composed of the New Bohol or Panglao Airport (P2.34 billion), the Laguindingan Airport (P14.62 billion) and the Davao Airport (P40.57 billion).
The private partner will undertake the operation and maintenance of the airport, as well as provide additional facilities and other necessary improvements to enhance passenger safety, security, access, passenger and cargo-movement efficiency, and operational efficiency under a defined concession period.
There were five prequalified bidders for the project:
■ Filinvest-Jatco-Sojitz Consortium (Filinvest Development Corp., Filinvest Land Inc., Filinvest Alabang Inc., Japan Airport Terminal Co. Ltd; and Cyberzone Properties Inc.);
■ GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium (Megawide Construction Corp., GMR Airport Developers Ltd., GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.; and Delhi International Airport Ltd.);
■ Maya Consortium (Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., VINCI Airports SAS, ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal SA, VINCI Construction Grands Projets SAS; Therma South Inc., and Hedcor Sibulan Inc.);
■ Philippine Airports Consortium (Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Aeroports de Paris, and ADP Ingenierie); and
■ SMHC-IIAC Airport Consortium (San Miguel Holdings Corp., Incheon International Airport Corp., Star Infrastructure Development Corp., and Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp.)
Mercado said these bidders may find it quite easy to rehash their proposals, which are currently modified to be offered for bundled deals.
“It shouldn’t be too difficult to desegmentize their own proposals,” she said.