Laguna dike bidders get new extension

THE GOVERNMENT may give would-be bidders a final one-month extension to prepare offers for the P123-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project, among the last few big-ticket public-private partnership (PPP) deals being auctioned off before President Aquino steps down in mid-2016.

But at least two out of three bidders said that even that would not be enough time and they would need anywhere between four and six more months given its complexity—ruling out an award within the current administration.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has twice extended the bid submission deadline. The latest was a two-month extension to Jan. 7, 2016, as the private sector flagged viability issues with the PPP deal that combines a toll road, flood-control dike and a massive land reclamation project along Laguna Lake.

While the DPWH has so far kept the Jan. 7 submission date, a government source with direct knowledge of the matter said there were internal talks to have this moved one more month to early February 2016, mainly due to the late delivery of certain government assurances.

This includes a yet to be signed presidential proclamation that would allow the winning bidder, for example, to develop and sell reclaimed land on Laguna Bay.

“It has to be February at the latest so the earliest [contract] singing can happen by April 2016,” the source, who declined to be named for lack of authority to speak to the media, said. “Beyond February is already a critical time and the project could spillover into the next administration.”

The law requires that a finalized concession agreement be available 30 days before bid submission. Since some of the assurances might still come in the latter part of this month, that would rule out a Jan. 7, 2016 submission, the source said.

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The project includes a 47-kilometer toll road running from Taguig in Metro Manila through the towns of Calamba to the Los Baños-Bay boundary in Laguna. This will be built along with a flood control dike to mitigate flooding in western coastal communities along the Laguna Lake.

The business sweetener comes in the form of the land reclamation component: About 700 hectares that will be reclaimed in Laguna Lake in a portion near the Taguig, Parañaque and Muntinlupa areas of Metro Manila. It is expected that a large portion of this will be developed into mixed-use communities.

The call for more time comes as some bidders flagged viability issues with the Laguna Lakeshore PPP. The most vocal among these is the Team Trident Group, a venture between Ayala Land Inc., Henry Sy’s SM Prime Holdings Inc., Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and Megaworld Corp.