Aquino urged to dismiss SMC appeal

The consortium of Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Land Inc., the frontrunner in a massive tollroad public private partnership (PPP) deal south of Metro Manila, has asked President Aquino to dismiss an appeal filed by San Miguel Corp., which was earlier disqualified on a technicality.

Ayala and Aboitiz, the groups behind bidder Team Orion, said in separate stock exchange filings on Monday that the government should follow its own bidding rules for the 45-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway PPP or the “confidence in the process is undermined.”

Team Orion was referring to the deficiency in San Miguel’s bid security, which was only good through Nov. 25 this year, or four days short of the 180-day requirement, meaning it should have read Nov. 29.

The matter was also complicated since San Miguel’s Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. turned out to be the highest bidder, with an offer for the right to win the project at P20.1 billion against Team Orion’s P11.659 billion, or a gap of about P8.45 billion. Team Orion edged out two other bidders, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and Malaysia’s MTD Group.

All groups gave premium offers, meaning these would come on top of the tollroad’s P45.4-billion construction cost.

Since Optimal Infrastructure was disqualified, its bid was not opened by the DPWH. This was also at the center of the company’s appeal to Malacañang: That its disqualification be reversed and its offer be considered.  Miguel R. Camus