House to look into Mactan airport deal

By: Miguel R. Camus - 11 years ago

File photo by Frances Mangosing/ INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Lawmakers are stepping into a row between the top two bidders for the P17.5-billion deal to upgrade the Mactan-Cebu International Airport deal in a move likely to further delay the awarding of the country’s biggest public private partnership project thus far.

Rep. Terry Ridon, a member of the House Committee on transportation, told the Inquirer Tuesday that a probe was certain after Cebu-based legislators called for an inquiry into conflict-of-interest allegations involving frontrunner Megawide Construction Corp. and its Indian partner, GMR Infrastructure.

The allegation was raised by No. 2 bidder Filinvest and Changi, whose offer during the opening of financial proposals last Dec. 12 was P400-million short of the P14.4 billion that Megawide-GMR offered to the Philippine government on top of the project cost. Filinvest-Changi also questioned the financial capability of Megawide-GMR, which in turn has denied all issues raised against it.

“The transportation committee will investigate the result of the bidding and inquire whether the process employed was correct,” Ridon said in a text message.

The Mactan-Cebu deal, which drew a total of seven bidders, including some of the country’s largest conglomerates, was supposed to be awarded last Jan. 6 but allegations raised by Filinvest-Changi prompted a review by the Department of Transportation and Communications bids and awards committee.

It remains uncertain how this would affect the timing of any award, already behind schedule by close to two months. The PPP program has been criticized for the slow pace of implementation and the ongoing row in the Mactan-Cebu Airport deal highlights fresh risks that participants might face.

PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao said Tuesday that a congressional inquiry should not delay the awarding, given that only the Supreme Court had the power to stop the implementation of infrastructure projects.

Ridon, however, noted that legislators should be allowed to have a say.

“We expect the DOTC to a bit more circumspect in proceeding with the award due to the serious reservations of legislators,” he added.

Megawide chief marketing officer Louie Ferrer declined to comment on the proposed House probe beyond saying, “We have already submitted all our documents to the [DOTC-BAC]. We have nothing to hide.”

For his part, Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya welcomed the inquiry.

“It is within the rights of Congress. It should be in the interest of Cebu lawmakers that the award be made soonest,” Abaya said in a text message.

The expansion of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which is running beyond normal capacity, calls for the construction of a new world-class international passenger terminal building with a capacity of about eight million passengers a year.

The winning bidder will also operate the project for a period of 25 years.