24 September 2012, Business World Online
by Siegfrid Alegado
THE SUBMISSION of pre-qualification bids for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway project was moved to next week from today, a Cabinet official said, following requests for extension by participating foreign firms.
“We have moved the submission of pre-qualification bids on the NAIA Expressway PPP (public-private partnership) to Oct. 1 instead of Sept. 25,” Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson said in an interview at the sidelines of the Management Association of the Philippines’ general members meeting last Friday.
“This is procedural,” he said, clarifying that the extension will not delay the projects bidding. “It (the bidding schedule) is still on track.”
Mr. Singson explained that the decision came after “requests from foreign participants to move the deadline due to reported constraints in complying with notarization requirements.” “The request for notarization is a tedious process,” the cabinet official further said.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) required foreign firms and joint-ventures with foreign firms to submit a notarization from the embassy where non-Filipino company authorizing its participation in the bidding.
There were five non-Filipino firms or joint ventures that teamed up with foreign companies in the list of 13 prospective bidders which the DPWH had earlier released. “As far as I know, there remain 13 bidders,” Mr. Singson said.
France-based EGIS Projects and India’s M/S IL &FS Transportation Network Ltd. were the non-Filipino firms who expressed intent to participate in the bidding, a list provided by the DPWH showed.
Joint ventures with foreign partners, meanwhile, include Macquarie Capital Securities (Phils.), Inc. (with an Australian partner); ALLOY M.T.D. Phils (with a Malaysian partner); and DAELIM Philippines (with a Korean partner), it added.
Other interested firms are San Miguel Corp.; D. M. Consunji, Inc.; Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.; Ayala Corp.; Megawide Construction Corp.; EEI Corp.; J. E. Manalo Construction; and C. M. Pancho Construction.
The P15.86-billion project aims to provide access to the three terminals of NAIA and the planned Entertainment City in Pasay via links from the existing Skyway. It includes the construction of at least six on ramps and six off ramps, new toll plazas and roads.
The government had released an invitation to pre-qualify for the bidding last July 20. Construction is expected to take approximately two years with full operations expected to kick-off in 2016.
