Bids for P35B Calax expected Monday

MANILA, Philippines–Interested bidders are keeping their cards close to the chest on whether an offer would be made Monday for the government’s next big-ticket public private partnership deal, the 47-kilometer Cavite Laguna Expressway, even as the implementing agency expects most to participate.

The project, which calls for the construction of a P35.4-billion tollroad to reduce congestion and travel time to Metro Manila, comes days after the transportation department’s  P65-billion Manila-Cavite elevated railway deal attracted just one out of seven potential bidders.

Cavite-Laguna Expressway, being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways, has four pre-qualified groups: San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., Malaysia’s AlloyMTD and the tandem of the Ayala and Aboitz groups.

San Miguel president Ramon Ang said in a text message over the weekend that they were ready to submit an offer while MTD Philippines president Isaac David said they were also ready and would make an offer once a final decision “from headquarters” was made.

John Eric Francia, managing director of Ayala Corp., said last week their offer with Aboitiz was being studied. Metro Pacific Tollways president Ramoncito Fernandez also said they were “in the final stages of study” and a decision will be made over the weekend.

“We are very optimistic they will participate after our meetings,” Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Rafael Yabut said in a separate interview, referring to one-on-one discussions held with the pre-qualified groups in the months leading up to the June 2 bid submission deadline.

The Cavite-Laguna Expressway was seen as a less complex project than the LRT-1, bidders said in previous interviews, but it carried its own set of risks, being a greenfield project.

Nevertheless, Yabut said the four groups had very good reasons to make offers given the way Cavite-Laguna Expressway would combine with their existing businesses.

Yabut said Metro Pacific and San Miguel, for example, would benefit as the tollroad deal would link up with both the Manila-Cavite Expressway of Metro Pacific and South Luzon Expressway, which San Miguel operates with its partner, the Citra Group of Indonesia.

Ayala also had good reasons to participate given Ayala Land Inc.’s vast landholdings south of Metro Manila, Yabut said.

MTD, which used to operate SLEx was already familiar with the business, he added.