Neda OKs Calax rebid, 5 projects

MANILA, Philippines–The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) board, chaired by President Aquino, approved Monday the rebidding of the P35.4-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway, or Calax.

The Neda board also approved five other infrastructure projects with a combined estimated cost of P337.4 billion.

Among the six infrastructure projects approved were four public-private partnership (PPP) projects, including the Calax project, which will all be auctioned off to private-sector investors.

The government set a minimum bid of P20.105 billion for the Calax project, which will likely be offered for bidding middle of this year.

In a statement, Neda said the rebidding was expected to get “the highest premium for the government.”

The floor price for Calax is equivalent to the offer of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., through unit Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc., during the first bidding for the project in June last year. Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. was, however, disqualified due to a four-day deficiency in its bid bond.

The Aboitiz and Ayala groups’ Team Orion consortium, which had a bid of P11.66 billion, was then declared the winner. The project involves the construction and operation of the 47.018-kilometer Calax, which will start at the Cavite Expressway in Kawit, Cavite, and end at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx)-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.

President Aquino, however, announced last November that the government would rebid the project because of the P8.4-billion gap between the offers of Optimal Infrastructure Development and Team Orion.

The offer of the winning bidder, which should be at least P20.105 billion, will go to the government as a premium. This means the investor must shell out more than P55 billion to snag the contract and build the expressway.