Lopez company eyes P24.4-B Bulacan water project

First Philippine Holdings Corp. of the Lopez group has obtained the approval of its board to join a consortium that will participate in the bid for the P24.4-billion Bulacan bulk water supply project.

The project will be auctioned off by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) under the public-private partnership (PPP) framework.

The project “is subject to the finalization of definitive agreements with its potential partner(s), the conduct of due diligence and compliance with the bidding requirements, among others,” according to a disclosure the company Thursday filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The Lopez group’s construction and engineering arm First Balfour Inc. was among the 15 prospective bidders that earlier bought prequalification documents from the MWSS.

Other parties were Manila Water Co. Inc., Marubeni Corp. of Japan, Filinvest Development Corp., Abengoa of Spain, Megawide Construction Corp., San Miguel Holdings Corp., Maynilad Water Services, Inc., Prime Water Infrastructure Corp., Korea Water Resources Corp or K-Water, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Datem Water, Inc., Sojitz Corp., New San Jose Builders, Inc. and Acciona Agua of Spain.

The bulk water project aims to address the water supply requirements of municipalities in the province of Bulacan, thereby reducing groundwater extraction and use of deep wells, which are being discouraged due to adverse environmental impact.

Once the project is completed, treated bulk water will be supplied to water districts throughout Bulacan province.

The project is offered under a competitive public bidding using performance, or output-based, approach in accordance with Republic Act No. 7718, also known as the Revised Build-Operate-and-Transfer (BOT) law.

FPH is into power generation, manufacturing operations and real estate development.