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Bidding for the privatization of General Santos port moved as the Philippine Ports Authority had to revisit its feasibility study for the project following damage sustained during a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck off Sarangani last June
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Bidding may still commence this year as PPA already determined to rehabilitation in the contract for the management and operations of cargo-handling and other port-related services for General Santos port
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PPA intends to bid out the contract for the management and operations of General Santos port under a public-private partnership scheme with an estimated cost of P8 billion
Bidding for the privatization of General Santos port has been pushed back after the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) had to revisit its feasibility study for the project, following damage the southern Mindanao port sustained in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck off Sarangani in June.
Bidding may still commence this year, however, as PPA has already decided to include rehabilitation works in the contract for the management and operations of cargo-handling and other port-related services at General Santos port, PPA assistant general manager for operations Mark Jon Palomar confirmed to PortCalls in a text message.
PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago in December last year said they were eyeing the bidding for the privatization of the General Santos port within the first half of 2026.
PPA Port Operations & Services Department manager Josephine Napiere, in a recent media interview, said PPA had to revisit its feasibility study for the port’s privatization to decide whether to include its rehabilitation in the contract or if PPA will do the rehabilitation.
On June 8 this year, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off Sarangani, damaging portions of General Santos port and temporarily suspending its operations until it resumed partial operations on June 17.
Damage included large cracks and settlements in some parts of the wharf area, as well as in its port operations building, passenger terminal building, main gate complex, and north gate complex. Liquefaction was also observed in some parts of the container yard.
READ: General Santos port partially reopens
PPA intends to bid out the contract for the management and operations of General Santos port, located in south-central Mindanao, under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme with an estimated cost of P8 billion.
The bidding process will be used as “template” for the privatization of other ports, Santiago earlier said.
The conduct of feasibility study is in compliance with the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 11966 or the PPP Code of the Philippines.
Bidding for the port terminal management contracts (PMTC) of General Santos and other PPA ports were planned for an earlier schedule under PPA’s Port Terminal Management Regulatory Framework (PTMRF) — PPA’s guidelines in the awarding of PMTCs — but the ports authority adjusted the timelines when the PPP Code IRR was issued in April 2024.
Palomar earlier explained that they will no longer be using the PTMRF as the PPP Code “did away with separate guidelines” for privatization projects.
The investment categories under PTMRF will, however, still be used to identify the obligations of PPA and the contractors.
Under PPA Administrative Order (AO) No. 03-2023, which amended AO No. 03-2016 (PTMRF guidelines), the investment categories are under three tiers:
- Tier 1 – full concession for 25 years
- Tier 2 – contractor handles physical land infrastructure, above-ground fixtures and semi-fixtures, and mobile-handling equipment while PPA handles physical undersea infrastructure, 20 years concession period
- Tier 3 – contactor handles above-ground fixtures and mobile-handling equipment, 15 years concession period
According to the PPP Center’s projects dashboard, General Santos port will be under Tier 2.
