Deadline for submission of Lakeshore papers moved

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Department of Public Works and Highways may give groups another two to three months to prepare prequalification requirements for the administration’s next big-ticket public private partnership deal, the P122.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project.

Public Works secretary Rogelio Singson told reporters Friday that the DPWH would allow the extension of the Oct. 16 prequalification deadline, considering the complexity of the project, but said the department would like to keep the July 6, 2015 bid submission deadline.

The Laguna Lakeshore deal has drawn the interest of at least 22 groups, including some of the country’s biggest conglomerates, mainly due to a land reclamation component that the government included to increase the deal’s viability.

The Laguna Lakeshore project involves three major components, a flood control dike, overhead 47-kilometer expressway running from Taguig to Los Baños, Laguna and the reclamation of about 700 hectares of land in Laguna Lake near Taguig and Muntinlupa “for mixed-use” developments, the PPP Center said.

“It’s a complex project. It’s not a straightforward reclamation or a straightforward tollroad,” Singson said on the sidelines of an investors’ briefing for the project Friday.

“We are looking now at extending [the prequalification submission] by between 60 and 90 days,” said Singson, noting that the Oct. 16 deadline was “not a realistic schedule”.

Singson said the department would be happy if three or four groups—out of the 22 that bought auction documents—would actually submit bids.

Singson noted that interest in the Laguna Lakeshore project remained, adding that financial institutions were wiling to fund the project.

He said the government was also willing to allow consortium members to set up special entity vehicles to allow greater participation of foreign players.

Throughout Friday’s event, government officials emphasized that most of the opportunities lay in the land reclamation aspect.

“What will pay for the tollroad and flood control is the reclamation,” Singson said.

Some of the 22 companies that bought bid documents are pure property developers, and these are likely to partner with other groups to fulfill the requirements of the project.

The interested groups include Ayala Corp., San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Malaysia’s MTD Group, JG Summit Holdings, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Megaworld Corp., LT Group Inc., GT Capital Holdings, Filinvest Land, Megawide Construction Corp., France’s Egis Projects S. A. and Macquarie Securities (Phil.) Inc.

Meanwhile, a previous PPP deal of the DPWH, the 45-kilometer Cavite Laguna Expressway deal, has yet to be awarded after San Miguel Corp., which was disqualified, appealed to President Aquino that its offer be considered.

The tandem of Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Land had submitted the highest complying bid, the PPP Center earlier said.