08 May 2013
Press Release from the Department of Transportation and Communications
Five (5) out of the nine (9) consortia which sought to qualify for the P 1.72-Billion Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) Project have been shortlisted by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), the Transport Department disclosed on Wednesday (May 8, 2013).
The 5 bidders which prequalified are: (1) AF Consortium, led by the Metro Pacific and Ayala groups; (2) Comworks Consortium, which includes Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp.; (3) E-Trans Solutions Joint Venture, Inc. Consortium, which includes Eastwest Banking Corp.; (4) Megawide-Suyen-Eurolink Consortium, which will tap the experience of Singapore’s EZ-Link Pte. Ltd.; and (5) SM Consortium, led by several companies of the Sy family.
“We are pleased to announce that 5 interested groups have prequalified to bid for the AFCS Project, one of our first PPP (Public-Private Partnership) offerings. This means that we are getting closer to identifying who our private sector partner will be in bringing a modern commuting experience to the public,” said the DOTC.
Based on the current timeline, the prequalified consortia will have until August 30, 2013 to prepare their bids for the project. According to the DOTC, “[W]e set this deadline for bid submission to give bidders the maximum amount of time to come up with their best proposals for government without compromising our schedule. As long as we have the full support and cooperation of the bidders, we will remain on track with our targets.”
Meanwhile, the 4 disqualified groups are: (1) Lamco Consortium; (2) Mega Lucky United Consortium; (3) MTD-PRLM Consortium; and (4) San Miguel Transport Solutions Consortium.
In the case of Lamco, it nominated consortium member New San Jose Builders, Inc. to meet the project’s financial qualification requirement. However, the documents provided during the submission deadline last April 12 showed that its net worth fell below the P 1-Billion minimum. Additional documents submitted by Lamco after the deadline were not considered by the DOTC-LRTA Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), since this would have amounted to a bid modification.
For Mega Lucky, there was no proof that its members have no unsatisfactory record. The required basic information and general information sheets of its members were also absent.
Meanwhile, MTD-PRLM’s submission lacked proof establishing the required experience of its nominated AFCS operator. In addition, its Project Implementation Plan and Project Development Plan failed to show its ability to undertake the project due to missing components.
Lastly, San Miguel Transport Solutions’ Project Implementation Plan and Project Development Plan did not include certain required components, similar to MTD-PRLM.
03 May 2013, The Manila Times
by Mayvelin Caraballo
The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) decided to discontinue the pre-qualification (PQ) process and restart the bidding for the Angat Hydro Electric Power Plant (AHEPP), according to the Philippine Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center.
In a statement, the PPP Center said that the MWSS decision to discontinue the recent bidding process was because only one bidder was able to satisfy the project’s PQ requirements.
The center stated that in a resolution by the Prequalification Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) of AHEPP dated April 22, only one bidder met the technical requirements of the project. Also, another bidder was not able to comply with the technical component requirements specified in the ITPB, while the last bidder was late in its submission of the PQ documents.
“This prompted MWSS’ Bids and Awards Committee to discontinue the pre-qualification process and restart the bidding for the AHEPP project. Bidders submitted their pre-qualification documents last March 4,” it reported.
The PPP Center noted that MWSS has tentatively targeted the first week of June as the new date to issue its invitation to pre-qualify and bid for the project.
“While the BOT [Build-Operate and Transfer] Law allows the bidding to proceed with only one bidder, the MWSS PBAC decided to discontinue the process and restart the bidding,” PPP Center Executive Director Cosette Canilao explained.
The center emphasized that during the prequalification period, there were 13 bidders who expressed interest in the AHEPP project.
The said bidders were Aguirre Abano Panfilo Pares Pineda and Agustin Law Office, DMCI Power Corp., EEI Corp., First Gen Energy Philippines, Kaltimex Energy Philippines, K-Water Resources Corp., Marubeni Corp., Meralco Power Generation, SN Aboitiz Power, Sta. Clara Power, Sunway Waters and Electric Co., Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. and FAM Energy Consortium.
It added that the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of the MWSS-owned Auxiliary Turbines 4 and 5 will cost the private proponent $27.5 million, or P1.15 billion.
Located within the MWSS compound in San Lorenzo in NorzaÂgaray, Bulacan, the project will include the renovation and modernization of
Turbines 4 and 5; the construct of a separate control room; as well a new switchyard and transformer area.
The winning bidder will also undertake the operation and maintenance of the modernized Auxilliary Turbines 4 and 5.
Under the rehabilitate-operate and maintain scheme of the BOT Law, the cooperation period between the MWSS and the winning bidder is for 20 years including the construction period.
The AHEPP is one of the projects that received funding from Project Development and Monitoring Fund managed by the PPP Center for the development of its feasibility study.
Investvine, 23 April 2013
With no previous investment cycle to speak of, the Philippines’ first boom is being portended by increased interest in the country’s public-private-partnership (PPP) programme, Christoper Wood, an equity strategist for Hong Kong brokerage and investment firm Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia told Rappler, a local online media group.
Supported by sound macroeconomic fundamentals, the Philippines has experienced increased participation by foreigners in the stock market, with investment into big-ticket infrastructure also a possibility.
On April 15, San Miguel Corporation won the third PPP project issued by the Aquino administration to build a $388 million expressway connecting Metro Manila’s up-and-coming gaming city with the Ninoy International Airport terminals.
San Miguel’s top man Ramon Ang put down an overwhelming upfront payment of $266 million for the project through its subsidiary Optimal Infrastructure Development Corporation, dwarfing the $7 million bid made by the Manila North Tollways Corporation.
The other two projects that have been award from the Aquino administration’s eight priority infrastructure projects, identified to boost growth by 7 per cent, are the $46.6 million Daang Hari-SLEX Link Road Project, awarded to Ayala Corporation in 2011, and the $389 million School Infrastructure Project Phase 1, awarded to a consortium of Citicore Holdings Investment-Megawide Construction Corporation and BF-Riverbanks Development Corporation in 2012.
Beyond local investors, who can make bids with their foreign counterparts or partners, Cosette Canilao, executive director of PPP Center, believes that institutional investors can also benefit in the Philippines, noting the country’s recent investment credit rating upgrade.
“Institutional investors are ideal financing partners for infrastructure projects because returns and duration expectations typically match the opportunities provided by these projects,” she told Malaya Business.
Bidding for the following projects are ongoing: the $1.38 billion LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension, $132.56 million Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center, $26.86 million Rehabilitation and O&M of Angat Hydroelectric Power Plant Auxiliary Turbines 4 and 5, $312.86 million PPP for School infrastructure Project Phase 2, $41.86 million Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) and the $239 million Mactan-Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal Building, which had to extend its deadline due to overwhelming interest.
The AFCS project has received interest from nine parties, including consortiums led by San Miguel, SM Corporation and AF.
Investors remain concerned about the sluggishness of rolling out the PPP projects, but Canilao reassures that there is reason.
“We want to make sure that we have a PPP program that is healthy and transparent,” she said.
This caution is undoubtedly held up by the ongoing claims made by Fraport AG, the operator of German’s largest airport in Frankfurt, for compensation from a soured PPP deal in the early 1990s.
Fraport AG won the bid to construct NAIA’s Terminal 3, but was soon caught in a cobweb of domestic political and business rivalries, ultimately losing its investment of $400 million. In November 2011, it is estimated that Fraport AG claimed between $425 million and $800 million from the Philippine government, now pending before the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.
“We are aware that mistakes were made before with the T3 concession at Ninoy Aquino, which without doubt, damaged the reputation of the Philippines for international investors. However, we have learnt from the experience, which is why we have set up the Public-Private Partnership Center to assist in the preparation of projects,” Canilao told Airport World.
“We now have a clear strategy. We know what the government wants and obligations it expects from the private sector. We are also developing clear exit strategies so that the mistakes of the past cannot be repeated,” Canilao said, pointing to the evidence of the programmes success by the amount of investors now lining up.
Major road projects include the $618 million NLEX-SLEX connector road and the $861 million Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX).
The agriculture sector has also been identified for possible PPP projects, but furthers studies are needed to weigh fiscal benefits and liabilities.
SunStar, 17 April 2013
The Iloilo City Government and the Department of Education (DepEd) has adopted a public-private partnership (PPP) framework to supplement the provision of educational facilities, consistent with the ten-point Agenda for Basic Education and the other approaches contained in the 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan.
Similarly, the Regional Development Council in Western Visayas recently passed Executive Committee Resolution No. 5 by endorsing the School Infrastructure Project (PSIP) II for public private partnership.
City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said the city has an existing program to solve the classroom shortage thru the PPP.
The Ten Moves project convened by the Ayala Foundation has launched late last year a project with the City Government to help supplement public elementary and high school education here and solve the 63 classroom shortage by schoolyear 2013-2-14.
DepEd estimates that the nationwide classroom shortage is expected to grow to about 150,000 units by 2016 with the increases in enrolment and in view of the implementation of the K to 12 program and the Education for All initiatives.
For Western Visayas, 334 sites have been identified with a total of 732 classrooms. Top three sites were Iloilo province with 101 school sites for 254 classrooms, followed by Capiz with 63 sites and 127 classrooms and Negros Occidental with 52 sites and 80 classrooms. (Lydia C. Pendon)
25 March 2013, GMA News
The Philippines has been overwhelmed by over a thousand queries on three private-public partnership projects, forcing the government to extend the bidding deadlines.
The queries focused on the P60-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 Extension, the P11.3-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and the P1.72-billion Contactless Automatic Fare Collection System, according to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
“Ensuring that the government receives the most advantageous deals with long-term stability is our priority,” the department noted.
“The sheer volume of clarifications and the time needed to adjust their proposals accordingly make the bidders’ requests for extension reasonable,” the DOTC said in its statement.
The original deadlines for investors to submit pre-qualification documents were spread between April 5 and April 23. — VS, GMA News
25 March 2013, The Manila Times
by Rosalie C. Periabras
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Friday said that the extensions given in the bidding process of its three public-private partnership (PPP) projects
—involving the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 Extension, the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and the Contactless Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS)—are intended to give bidders ample time to submit the best possible proposals to the government, in line with the current administration’s good governance program.
“There are bidding processes that we are following to ensure we have an open and competitive procedure in procuring the best private sector partner for each of the [PPP] projects that we have put out to bid,” the DOTC said.
DOTC originally specified timeÂlines for bidders to seek clarifications on the bid criteria for the three PPP projects, but remained flexible to their requests for additional time.
“The broad interest generated by our projects has caused bidders to submit over 1,000 questions for the three PPP projects combined,” said the DOTC.
“The sheer volume of clarifications and the time needed to adjust their proposals accordingly make the bidders’ requests for extension reasonable,” it added.
In considering the requests for extension, the Prequalification, Bids, and Awards Committee found the benefit of encouraging more competitive proposals to outweigh any slight delays they may cause. “Ensuring that the government receives the most advantageous deals with long-term stability is our priority,” the DOTC added.
The deadline for submission of pre-qualification documents for the AFCS Project will be on April 12. For the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Project, it will be on April 5, 2012, or two weeks after the issuance of the last clarifications.
The department said that for the LRT Line 1 Extension Project, one-on-one meetings with the pre-qualified bidders will be from April 22 to 23, and the submission of bids is set on June 17, 2013.
25 March 2013, Manila BulletinÂ
The extension in the bidding process of the three projects involving the LRT Line 1 Extension, the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and the Contactless Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) are intended to give bidders ample time to submit the best possible proposals to the government, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said on Friday.
“There are bidding processes that we are following to ensure we have an open and competitive procedure in procuring the best private sector partner for each of the project that we have put out to bid,” the DOTC said.
DOTC originally specified timelines for bidders to seek clarifications on the bid criteria for the three public-private partnership (PPP) projects, but remained flexible to their requests for additional time.
“The broad interest generated by our projects has caused bidders to submit over 1,000 questions for the 3 PPP Projects combined. The sheer volume of clarifications and the time needed to adjust their proposals accordingly make the bidders’ requests for extension reasonable.”
In considering the requests for extension, the Public Bidding Awards Committee (PBAC) found the benefit of encouraging more competitive proposals to outweigh any slight delays they may cause. “Ensuring that the government receives the most advantageous deals with long-term stability is our priority,” the DOTC added.
The deadline for submission of pre-qualification documents for the AFCS project will be on April 12. For the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Project, it will be on April 5, 2012, or two weeks after the issuance of the last clarifications.
For the LRT Line 1 Extension Project, One-on-One meetings with the pre-qualified bidders will be from April 22-23, and the submission of bids is set on June 17, 2013.
25 March 2013, The Philippine Star
by Lawrence Agcaoili
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has pushed back anew the deadline for the submission of pre-qualification documents for the biggest infrastructure project under the Aquino administration, the LRT-1 extension project.
In General Bid Bulletin 08-2013, DOTC undersecretary Rene Limcaoco said the revised bid proposals submission date for the proposed P60 billion project that would extend LRT-1 to Bacoor, Cavite has been moved to June 17 instead of May 27 as bidders were given until April 29 to submit their final queries and comments.
Limcaoco said the DOTC and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) are set to conduct a second round of one-on-one meetings with the pre-qualified bidders on April 22 and April 23.
Both the DOTC and LRTA are set to release the final concession agreement on May 20.
Last November, the DOTC’s special bids and awards committee had cleared the participation of the Light Rail Manila Consortium, MTD-Samsung Group, San Miguel Infrastructure Resources Inc., and DMCI Holdings Inc. after they beat the Oct. 22 deadline.
The Light Rail Manila consortium is led by First Pacific’s Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) with 33 percent followed by diversified conglomerate Ayala Corp. while the MTD-Samsung group is composed of MTD Capital Bhd. and Samsung C&T Corp.
Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. through San Miguel Infra Resources Inc. led the group composed of GS Engineering and construction Corp. and POSCO Engineering and Construction Co Ltd while DMCI has tied up with Marubeni Corp. and Sistema Tranporte Collectivo Metrorey.
The Cavite extension project would increase the span of LRT-1 to 32.4 kilometers from 20.7 kilometers with a new south endpoint in Niog, Bacoor, Cavite instead of Baclaran in Pasay City.
Approximately 10.5 kilometers of the Cavite Extension System worth P30.6 billion would be elevated and 1.2 kilometers would be at grade level serving nearly four million residents of Parañaque, Las Piñas, and the Province of Cavite.
The stations would include Redemptorist Church in Baclaran, MIA Road, Asiaworld, N. Aquino, Dr. Santos, Manuyo Uno, Las Piñas, Zapote, Talaba, and finally Niog.
DOTC undersecretary Catherine Gonzales earlier said majority of the P500 billion worth of infrastructure projects under the public private partnership (PPP) scheme are likely to be completed within the term of President Aquino.
