FRIDAY’S auction for the P4-billion Integrated Transport System (ITS) South Terminal contract was met with a low turnout of bidders after half of them withdrew from the tender process to focus on other business endeavors.
Originally, there were four companies that were qualified to bid for the project, but only two of them submitted offers to win the project.
Ayala Land Inc. and Filinvest Land Inc. signified their complete interest for the deal, submitting their technical and financial proposals on Friday. Datem Inc. and Megawide Construction Corp. backed out of the bidding, with the former citing commercial viability concerns.
Despite this, Transportation Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo M. Lotilla said he is still happy with the turnout of the bidding, adding that he is hoping that the two property developers offered competitive bids.
“What’s important is they have the capability to finish the project,” he said. “The problem there is there are a lot of infrastructure projects, and some of the prospective bidders are already undertaking some of them.” This is particularly true for Megawide, which won five of the 10 projects awarded under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program under the Aquino administration.
“We will focus on other projects,” Megawide Vice President for Marketing Louie B. Ferrer said in a brief text message.
Datem, for its part, said it lost interest in the project as it found the project not commercially feasible.
“The company decided to formally withdraw as a prospective bidder due to concerns related to the commercial viability of the project,” the firm said in a news statement. “Infrastructure-related public-private partnerships can be technical and economically complex.” Technical proposals of Ayala and Filinvest were opened on Friday. Lotilla said his office targets to complete the review and awarding processes as early as next week.
“We hope to award as soon as possible. I think we can do it by a week from today, Friday. But, it still depends on how fast we can finish the process, the technical evaluation is not that hard,” he said.
The winning bidder will take care of the design, construction, and operations and maintenance (O&M) of the terminal for a concession period of 35 years.
The multibillion-peso project covers the construction of a terminal within a 4.7-hectare lot along Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) Compound in Taguig City. It will connect passengers coming from the South, specifically the Batangas and Laguna area, to other public-utility vehicles that are serving inner Metro Manila. It also covers the construction of arrival and departure bays, public information systems, ticketing and baggage facilities and park-ride facilities.
The transport agency aims to award the project in the third quarter this year in order to begin construction by the second quarter of 2016, while the terminal is set to open in December 2017.
The government has awarded 10 contracts since it launched the PPP program in late 2010, namely:
- The P2.2-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway project bagged by Ayala Corp. in 2011;
- The P16.42-billion first phase of the PPP School Infrastructure Program (PSIP), which went in 2012 to the consortium formed by Megawide Construction Corp. (MCC) and Citicore Holdings Investment Inc., as well as the BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. Consortium;
- The P15.68-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway, given to San Miguel Corp. unit Vertex Tollways Development Inc. in 2013;
- The P3.86-billion PSIP Phase II contract, partially awarded in 2013 to Megawide and the BSP & Co. Inc.-Vicente T. Lao Construction consortium;
- The P5.69-billion Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center project that went to the Megawide-World Citi Inc. consortium, also in 2013.
- The P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System contract awarded to the AF Consortium of Ayala and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) in 2014;
- The P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal project bagged in 2014 by MCC and GMR Infrastructures Ltd.;
- The P64.9-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension deal, awarded in 2014 to Light Rail Manila Consortium of Ayala and MPIC;
- The P2.5-billion Integrated Transport System Southwest Terminal, won by MCC and partner Walter Mart Property Management Inc. of billionaire and retail magnate Henry Sy in January; and
- The P35.42-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway bagged by MPCALA Holdings Inc. of MPIC in June.
It intends to plug the gap in the country’s transportation facility in the next decade by rolling out massive infrastructure projects that are seen to spur economic growth.