Source: Business Mirror
ANOTHER bidder has been added to the list of entities participating in the July 11 auction for the operation and management (O&M) bid contract of two railway systems in Metro Manila.
According to Transportation Undersecretary Glicerio Sicat, the 16th bidder is Gracia Y Caridad Ministry Foundation. “It is represented by [a] Mr. Sung, a Korean,” he said via a text message.
The foundation joins 15 others which have earlier purchased a non- refundable P500,000-worth of bid documents from the special bids and awards committee of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
Sicat said the opening of bids is slated on July 11 while the last day for the purchase of bid documents is set on July 8.
“The complete identities of the bidders will be known when we open their bids on July 11. They won’t reveal for now whom they are partnering with,” added Sicat.
The 15 other bidders are Mitsubishi Corp., Autre Porte Technique Global Inc.; England’s Serco Group Plc.; Marubeni Corp.; Sumitomo Corp.; Spain’s Construcciones Y Auxiliar de Ferrocarilles SA; Italy’s Finmeccanica SpA.; Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp.; Ayala Corp.; Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc.; Ecorail Transport Services, Inc.; Abratique & Associates Phil. Inc.; DM Consunji Inc.; Jorgman Planning and Development Corp.; and Kempal United Corp.
Of the 16, seven are foreign owned.
All of them are vying for the contract to operate and manage Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 1 and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) line 3 for four years, with an option to extend by one more year. The bid contract for the LRT line 1 and the MRT line 3 will cost P7.7 billion and P6.3 billion, respectively.
After the O&M period, the LRT line 1 Cavite (South) extension project contractor is expected to assume overall responsibility for the integrated LRT line 1 and MRT line 3 systems.
The auction is the first project under the Aquino administration’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.
Mitsubishi Corp. earlier asked the government to extend the deadline for the bid submission until December this year.
The Japan-based firm’s deputy general manager Tetsuro Mura, in a letter to the agency, requested for a 150-day extension from July 11.
The letter stated that Mitsubishi Corp. needed more time to prepare the technical and financial requirements. But DOTC Undersecretary Ruben Reinoso Jr. said the agency is not inclined to extend the July 11 deadline because bidders were given enough time to complete the requirements.
“We published the invite last March. They have more than three months to prepare for it. We have given them enough time,” said the DOTC official.
Bidders are allowed to form a joint venture or consortium provided that one of its members submitted a formal expression of interest together with a P10,000 non-refundable fee. Also, it is required that one of the members of the consortium has had experience in running an electronic mass rail system. Likewise, bidders are required to submit an audited financial statement which are duly stamped ‘received’ by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Entities with pending issues with the DOTC or any of its attached agencies are not qualified to join the bidding. Conflicts of interest among bidders shall not be allowed. The agency also prohibits companies that are affiliated with other potential bidders from joining the auction.
