MORE DELAYS. The PPP Center has pushed back the bidding for the NAIA Expressway to April. File photo

MANILA, Philippines - The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center has pushed back the bidding of phase two of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expressway project to April.

Cosette Canilao, executive director of the PPP Center, told reporters on the sidelines of the groundbreaking of the Harbor Link project at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) that the deadline for the submission of bids for the NAIA expressway II was moved to April 8 instead of February 24.

Canilao said the deadline was extended after pre-qualified bidders requested for more time to prepare their documents in light of the Holy Week.

The 4 bidders include:

• San Miguel Corp.
• Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
• Ayala Corp.
• M/S IL and FS Transportation Network

Prior to pre-qualification, a total of 13 firms expressed interest in the project. Among these firms were:

• DM Consunji
• EEI Corp.
• Megawide Construction Corp.
• Macquarie Capital Securities
• EGIS Projects
• Alloy MTD Philippines
• J.E. Manalo Construction
• Daelim Philippines
• C.M. Pancho Construction

The NAIA expressway II is a 4-lane elevated highway with total length of 7.15 kilometers, including ramps.

The P15-billion project will start at the existing Skyway then generally follows the existing road alignments over Sales Avenue, Andrews Avenue, Domestic Road, and NAIA Road, and has entry/exit ramps at Roxas Boulevard, Macapagal Boulevard, and Pagcor City.

The project will provide access to NAIA Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and link existing expressways, namely, the Skyway and the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway.

It is one of the big-ticket infrastructure projects under the PPP program of the Aquino administration.

It is expected to reduce to 8 minutes the average 24-minute travel time for passengers going to NAIA Terminal 1 from Skyway. – Rappler.com