Gov’t delays Cavite-Laguna Expressway bid submission deadline

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Public Works and Highways is pushing back the April 21 bid submission deadline for the 47-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) by a month as several bidders sought an extension.

The new bid deadline has been set on May 21, according to two bidders who have received notifications from the DPWH.

There are four groups vying for the P35.4-billion public-private partnership (PPP) deal, which aims to decongest traffic along the Cavite-Laguna road network and reduce travel time to and from Metro Manila.

Sought for comment, Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Rafael Yabut confirmed the extension but said a final bid bulletin was still being finalized. He declined to elaborate.

The extension comes as bidders have raised several issues on the auction of the tollroad, one of the biggest deals under the government’s PPP program thus far.

One of the bidders, MTD Philippines, was wary about how the offers would be evaluated, its president Isaac David said on Wednesday. He said the DPWH’s bid parameters for the tollroad were the lowest viability fund gap, a type of subsidy, or the highest concession fee.

David, who used to head that company that operates the South Luzon Expressway in Metro Manila, said bids were typically evaluated using the lowest toll fee, which would also benefit motorists more.

“As a concessionaire, lowest toll fee is preferred than lowest VGF [viability fund gap],” David said.

“The lower the toll fee, the more affordable it will be to motorists and therefore more volume of vehicles,” he said, adding that using subsidies or premiums as bid parameters would benefit the government over motorists who would eventually use the tollroad.

David said a greenfield project like Calax required subsidies to be feasible, which he noted was confirmed by DPWH studies. He noted that the government appeared to be hoping to avoid spending the P5-billion subsidy allocated for the PPP project. Bidders offering a premium, instead of asking for a subsidy, were more likely to bag the project.

“It appears the DPWH is hoping to achieve similar results as in the Naia Expressway,” David added, referring to the PPP deal San Miguel Corp. bagged last year after offering an P11-billion premium against the only other bidder, Metro Pacific Investments, which offered a P305-million premium.

The DPWH is expecting construction of the Calax to start in October next year with completion seen in September 2017, information posted on its website showed.

It will start from the Manila-Cavite Expressway in Kawit, Cavite, and end at the SLEx-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.

Apart from MTD Philippines, the other prequalified bidders are Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., San Miguel Corp. and the tandem of the Ayala and Aboitz groups.