DPWH pushes back bid deadline for Calax project

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is pushing back the May 21 bid submission deadline for the 47-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) by almost two weeks due to bidders’ request for an extension.

The new bid deadline for the P35.4-billion public-private partnership deal has been set on June 2, according to a bid bulletin issued Tuesday.

The four groups bidding for the project are the Ayala and Aboitz consortium, San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. and Malaysian-backed MTD Philippines.

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

The DPWH expects the Calax project construction to start in October next year and completed by September 2017, information posted on its website showed.

The tollroad will start from the Manila-Cavite Expressway in Kawit, Cavite, and end at the SLEx-Mamplasan interchange in Biñan, Laguna.

The DPWH said that the government would assume responsibility in case an interconnection at the South Luzon Expressway, including upgrading of facilities like ramps and bridges, is later required.

The government recently set the bid parameters for the PPP project, stating that bidders could avail themselves of a subsidy of as much as P5 billion, or offer the government an advanced concession payment to bag the project.

In its bid bulletin, the DPWH said that the subsidy would take the form of a viability gap funding amounting to a maximum of P5 billion. If a bidder would not require the subsidy, they could offer a concession payment for which the DPWH has not set any limit.

Bidders could only choose one of the two options.