Bidding for integrated transport hub in Taguig moved to June 1

THE DEPARTMENT of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is giving bidders more time to prepare for their bid submissions for the P4-billion Integrated Transport System South public private partnership  project, to be located near the Food Terminal Inc. compound in Taguig.

The department, which opened this week the financial bids for a similar project near the Manila-Cavite Expressway (called ITS-Southwest), said the bid submission deadline for the ITS-South PPP project was moved from April 13 to June 1,2015.

The DOTC bulletin showed that bidders had sought an extension of as long as 11 months after the issuance of the bid instruction, draft concession agreement and draft schedules to the concession agreement. But the bids and awards committee denied the request, the bulletin showed.

Four groups were recently qualified to bid for the ITS-South project, which will connect passengers from the Laguna/ Batangas areas to transport systems, including the planned North South Commuter Rail, city buses and taxis, the transportation department said.

These are Ayala Land Inc., Filinvest Land Inc., Datem Inc. and MWM Terminals, led by Megawide Construction Corp.

The project  will also cover the main passenger building, arrival and departure bays, public information systems, ticketing and baggage holding facilities and so-called park-ride facilities.

The ITS system was designed to create intermodal hubs where provincial buses would disembark passengers for transfer to other in-city modes of transport such as MRT3 or LRT1, city buses and UV Express vans. The move was also aimed at easing congestion within Metro Manila.

On Tuesday, the financial bids of MWM Terminals and Filinvest Land for ITS-Southwest were opened by the DOTC. MWM Terminals emerged the frontrunner with an offer that required a lower annual payment from the government compared to that ofFilinvest Land.

Under the MWM Terminals bid, the government would pay the consortium an annual fee of only P100 million against Filinvest Land’s P650-million offer for the 35-year concession period.