The deadline for submission of bids to the operations and maintenance (O&M) project for five airports across the Philippines has again been put off by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
Transport undersecretary for planning and policy development Rene Limcaoco in General Bid Bulletin No. 29 told pre-qualified bidders that because clearances for the project still have to be secured, the bid submission date is being moved from March 28 “to a maximum of 30 days from the date when all final clearances and approvals have been obtained from the concerned government agencies.”
Limcaoco, who is also chairman of the Pre-qualification, Bids and Awards Committee, said the new submission date will be announced in another bid bulletin.
The original deadline was previously scheduled for February 29, but was moved 30 calendar days from when the final concession agreement and instruction has been issued to bidders.
The project entailing the development and O&M of five regional airports–a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme costing P108.19 billion–has five pre-qualified bidders. These are San Miguel Holdings Corp.-Incheon International Airport Consortium; Philippine Airports Consortium; Maya Consortium; GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium; and Filinvest-JATCO-Sojitz Consortium.
The project will be auctioned in two bundles. Bundle 1 includes the P20.26-billion Bacolod-Silay Airport Project and P30.40-billion Iloilo Airport Project.
Bundle 2 consists of the P40.57-billion Davao Airport Project, P14.62-billion Laguindingan Airport Project, and P2.34-billion New Bohol Airport Project.
The winning concessionaires for each bundle will handle the O&M requirements of the airports for 30 years while expanding these facilities, as most of these hubs are operating beyond their design capacity.
The project is one of the PPP programs exempt from the ban on spending public funds and construction of public works during the election season.
Aside from these projects, DOTC has also recalled the submission date for the pre-qualification bids for the Light Rail Transit Line 6 project and the filing of bids for the LRT Line 2 project, as well as delayed the opening of bids for the Davao-Sasa Port modernization project.
The postponement of deadlines comes just a few months before the current administration leaves office in end June.
