WITH many motorists and commuters already facing plenty of difficulties on a daily basis, it looks like the Office of the President is about to take a big gamble on a major infrastructure project. Unfortunately, that project is supposed to help alleviate the transportation crisis besetting the greater Metro Manila area.
That project is called the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax). Based on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center’s description of it, the project is a four-lane highway that will provide a faster, more efficient alternative route connecting the southern part of Metro Manila to key areas in the provinces of Cavite and Laguna.
So, what’s the gamble that could torpedo the hope for faster travel in this part of the metropolis?
Well, there is persistent talk in the business sector that Malacañang might soon order the cancellation of this project. If the speculation is proven true, this will put the credibility of the government’s PPP program in question. Worse, it will dampen the public’s hope for some improvement in their commute from Cavite and Laguna to Metro Manila, and vice versa.
A little background: Some two years ago, the PPP Center made a big push for private-sector participation in the construction of Calax. The project attracted bids from some of the country’s biggest names in business: the Ayalas, the Aboitizes and Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp.
The Aboitiz and Ayala groups formed a consortium that eventually bagged the project. The San Miguel group’s bid was disqualified, supposedly for “technical reasons.”
As everyone probably knows by now, the San Miguel group has gone to Malacañang to contest the decision of the Department of Public Works and Highways to award the project to the Ayala-Aboitiz group. The awarding of the Calax project to the “highest complying bidder” has been stalled for about four months now.
At this point, the business community is waiting with bated breath for Malacañang’s next move.
And, as the awarding of the project is further delayed, the suspicion grows that the Palace is seriously contemplating the cancellation of the Calax project and just build the toll road itself. The guessing game now has been on how Malacañang might justify a cancellation.
According to media reports, the cancellation option was raised during a recent Cabinet meeting and was
seriously being considered as a viable option to break the Calax deadlock. This is where the scenario begins to look grim, and here’s what’s worrying the business community.
To justify the cancellation, some bright minds in President Aquino’s circle will have to think of ways to cast doubt on the integrity of the original bidding process. Someone will have to make it appear that the process was flawed and that the original decision of Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson to award the project to the winning consortium was either grossly mistaken or reeking of malice.
That would put in jeopardy the very reputation of Singson who, up to this day, is seen as one of the “cleanest” officials in the President’s official family.
There is no way to justify the cancellation of the project without damaging the reputation of the PPP program and Singson himself.
In effect, the Palace will have to junk Singson. Is that a good gamble to make? Only Malacañang can answer that.
The other way to justify the cancellation is to cast doubt on the winning bidder itself, to question their capability to deliver on their commitments. This presents an even bigger problem because the Ayalas and the Aboitizes are major players with credible track records in business.
To question their capability to deliver on Calax would be to question their capability to deliver on the other major infrastructure and power-related projects already awarded to them by the government.
Unfortunately, it looks like the negative fallout here will also be unimaginable. This will send signals to the local business community, as well as the international community, which the President is trying to woo, that the PPP processes are not airtight and could be subject to external influences.
It looks like, in these scenarios, every one loses.
Of course, the biggest loser would be the President’s “bosses”—the commuters and motorists who have long held on to the hope that, someday, somehow, their transportation woes would be solved at last.
E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com.