Calax tollway deal also delayed by DPWH

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Public Works and Highways has formally announced it would push back the bid submission deadline of the 47-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) public private partnership deal by a month to May 21.

A bid bulletin showed that the decision was due to bidders’ requests “for more time to study and finalize the changes to the concession agreement, the minimum performance standards and specifications,” a bid bulletin showed Tuesday.

It added that bidders, however, had until April 7 to submit any queries.

There are four groups vying for the P35.4-billion project, which aims to decongest traffic along the Cavite-Laguna road network and reduce travel time to and from Metro Manila. These are MTD Philippines, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., San Miguel Corp. and the tandem of the Ayala and Aboitz groups.

Earlier, Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Rafael Yabut said the bid submission deadline would likely be moved, but he said they still intended the keep the construction timeline.

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.

At least one bidder earlier raised issues on the bid parameters, which are based either on the lowest viability fund gap, a type of subsidy, or the highest concession fee.

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

“The lower the toll fee, the more affordable it will be to motorists and therefore more volume of vehicles,” David said. “As a concessionaire, lowest toll fee is preferred than lowest VGF [viability fund gap].”

David said a greenfield project like Calax required subsidies to be feasible, which he added 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.—Miguel R. Camus