DOTC sets awarding in March of P17-B Mactan airport deal

The Department of Transportation and Communications intends to award this month the P17.5-billion contract to improve and expand the Mactan-Cebu International Airport after a delay of more than two months, even as some lawmakers urged the department to delay the process amid a probe in Congress.

DOTC undersecretary Jose Lotilla said Thursday in a text message that the contract would be awarded before the end of March, but he declined to give details.

The awarding process has been pushed from the Jan. 6 target due to an ongoing row between no. 2 bidder Filinvest-Changi and frontrunner Megawide-GMR Infrastructure of India.

Specifically, Filinvest-Changi claimed that Megawide-GMR should be disqualified mainly due to a conflict-of-interest violation.

“We can proceed [with the award],” Lotilla said. He said earlier that only a Supreme Court order can halt a major infrastructure project.

Which group would finally bag the contract would still be decided upon by the DOTC’s bids and awards committee, which Lotilla chairs.

Hearings were held this week at the Senate and House, as lawmakers asked the department to shed light on the issues involving the government’s biggest public-private partnership deal to be auctioned off thus far.

It is also a key project given that Mactan-Cebu Airport, currently operating beyond its intended capacity, is the country’s second-busiest airport after the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Rep. Terry Ridon, a member of the House committee on transportation, said more hearings would follow after this week’s exercise.

“Several congressmen, including myself, called on the DOTC to consider all the issues raised in the hearing before finally awarding to the winning bidder,” Ridon said in a text message.

The PPP Program has been criticized for the slow pace of implementation and the ongoing row involving the Mactan-Cebu Airport deal highlight risks that participants might face.