Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., which saw the winning bid of their consortium get nullified by President Aquino, will no longer participate in the rebidding of the P35.42-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) deal.
This was announced by Ayala Corp. Head for Infrastructure and Energy Group John Eric T. Francia, who said Team Orion stands by its belief that the original bidding was conducted aboveboard and its results should have been consummated.
“We are unlikely to participate in the event of a rebid of Calax. We believe that the original bid was conducted in a fair and transparent manner, and it just doesn’t make sense for us to participate in a rebid if we truly believe that the original bid is supposed to be consummated,” he said in a news conference on Monday.
“Now that position is focused on Calax and limited to Calax. We will continue to look at other PPP [public-private partnership] projects,” Francia added.
Last Wednesday President Aquino ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways to put the much-coveted deal to a fresh , despite a warning from business groups that this move could tinge the formidable name of the administration’s key infrastructure program.
The agency is currently sorting out the details of the rebidding for the expressway-construction contract.
The order, which was first obtained by the BusinessMirror on Friday, partially granted the petition of Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. to set aside its disqualification from the auction.
However, the President did not approve the firm’s other appeal to reconsider its alleged P20.1-billion premium offer, which would have allowed the infrastructure arm of San Miguel Corp. to win the deal.
Optimal was disqualified from the auction after its technical proposal failed the evaluation due to a defective bid security.
The order of the President also provided for the dismissal of the motion of Team Orion that urged Mr. Aquino to award the deal to either party.
Team Orion of AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and Aboitiz Land Inc. emerged as the front-runner during the auction, submitting an P11.66-billion premium to win the deal.
Now that the contract is subject to a fresh tender, the government expects to receive higher premiums, given the need of other groups to match the P20.1-billion disqualified offer of Optimal.
Asked if Team Orion would exhaust all legal means to block the rebid, Francia simply replied: “On a personal note, I don’t think we’ll stand in the way.”
Rebidding the project calls for the rejection of all compliant bids, including those of the two other bidders.
Under the build-operate-transfer law, the government is required to an auction as failed before the implementing agency could conduct a fresh tender.
Business groups, led by the Makati Business Club, earlier warned President Aquino that his PPP Program’s good name may lose its credibility due to inconsistencies in rules and a violation of the law.
But the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the largest business group in the Philippines, backed Mr. Aquino’s decision as this would maximize the economic benefits of the state from the bidding.
PCCI President Alfredo M. Yao said the government stands to gain at least P8.45 billion more from the fresh tender, as premium bids to build the thoroughfare would start from the floor price of P20.1 billion.
The project is a 47-kilometer thoroughfare that would start from the Manila-Cavite Expressway in Kawit, Cavite, and end at the South Luzon Expressway (Slex)-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna. It would consist of nine interchanges and a toll barrier before the Slex.
The third PPP project under the DPWH, the expressway is seen to decongest the traffic along the Cavite-Laguna road network.
The construction of the multibillion-peso expressway is seen to start by October next year and is to be completed in September 2017.
The government has awarded eight contracts since the infrastructure program’s inception in 2010.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza