San Miguel eyes rebid for Cavite-Laguna expressway project

MANILA, Philippines – Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (SMC) formalized its plans to rebid for the Cavite-Laguna expressway (CALAX) project through a letter of intent (LOI).

CALAX is a 47-kilometer expressway project which connects Bacoor and Kawit in Cavite and South Luzon Expressway areas.

The rebidding of CALAX was approved February 16 by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board chaired by President Benigno Aquino III.

The NEDA board also approved the new floor price of P20.105 billion ($452.74 million), the same as the submitted bid of SMC’s Optimal Infrastructure Development Incorporated. The SMC subsidiary was disqualified in 2014 due to a non-compliant bid security.

The SMC said its unit was fully compliant with the bid requirements for the toll road project. The diversified conglomerate brought the case to the Office of the President, which later ruled in favor of the conglomerate and offered a rebidding.

Team Orion, the 50-50 joint venture between Ayala’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Incorporated and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, was the highest bidder at P11.66 billion ($262.62 million). Team Orion will no longer participate in the rebidding after it expressed disappointment over Malacañang’s decision.

The P35.4-billion ($797.18 million) project, with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as implementing agency, will undergo a revamped procurement process in June 2015, after the government learned its lessons from a previous bidding mired in controversies.

Interested parties

Apart from SMC, infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) has also expressed interest in the Malacañang-mandated rebidding of CALAX.

SMC, MPIC, and a private individual representing a group have forwarded their LOIs to join the rebidding of the public-private partnership (PPP) project, DPWH Undersecretary Rafael Yabut said.

Yabut added the government has decided to adopt a single stage qualification and bidding for the public-private partnership project per Section 5.7 of Republic Act 6957, as amended by RA 7718 or the Philippine Build Operate Transfer Law.

Interested companies have until May 19 to submit their proposal to the DPWH. – Rappler.com