SMC elevates DOTC appeal to Malacañang

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is not giving up on a P1.72-billion public private partnership (PPP) deal despite its disqualification by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

SMC, whose subsequent appeal to bid for the Automated Fare Collection System project of the DOTC was denied, has elevated its plea to President Aquino, DOTC secretary Joseph Abaya said.

“We have received a notice of appeal from SMC basically notifying DOTC that they have appealed to OP [Office of the President],” Abaya said in a text message.

A DOTC spokesman could not immediately confirm if Lamco Consortium, whose appeal was also denied by the DOTC, had sought President Aquino’s reconsideration.

SMC, Lamco, MTD-PRLM and Mega Lucky United were the four bidders disqualified by DOTC last May 8.

Five other bidders, including consortia led by tycoon Henry Sy and the tandem of Metro Pacific Investments and Ayala Corp., were pre-qualified for the next stage in the bidding for the ACFS.

The ACFS calls for the decommissioning of the old magnetic-based ticking system at the LRT Line 1 and 2, and MRT 3. It will be replaced  with a contactless-based smart card technology to be run by a private sector operator for 10 years, including the two-year development period, information on the PPP Center website showed.

DOTC said earlier that MTD-PRLM’s submission “lacked proof establishing the required experience of its nominated AFCS operator.”

It added that the “Project Implementation Plan and Project Development Plan failed to show its ability to undertake the project due to missing components.”

SMC, through San Miguel Transport Solutions’ Project Implementation Plan and Project Development Plan, did not include certain required components, similar to MTD-PRLM, DOTC had said.