IRC group expects to bag $3.7-B Makati subway deal

Businessman Antonio Tiu-led IRC Properties Inc. expects the award of the $3.7-billion Makati subway system to its consortium anytime soon as the public challenge period lapsed without any rival offer.

The IRC-led consortium earlier obtained an original proponent status for the Makati subway system, which marked the acceptance by the Makati City government of the unsolicited infrastructure project proposal.

Under a Swiss challenge, other prospective bidders were invited to submit offers but the original proponent, IRC, would have had the right to match the best alternative offer.

“(The) 60-day Swiss challenge period ended in the last week of September without a challenger,” IRC president and CEO Antonio Tiu said in a text message yesterday, when asked about an update on the project.

Without any competition in sight, IRC is now just awaiting a formal award of the project from the local government.

The intracity subway project seeks to ease traffic bottlenecks within the city, which is home to the country’s premier central business district. IRC seeks to establish and operate the Makati mass transport system, which has a daytime population of 4.5 million.

To prepare for this big-ticket project, IRC recently applied to increase its authorized capital to P10.5 billion from P1.5 billion.

The IRC consortium—which includes Greenland Holdings Group, Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group Co. Ltd., Holdings Ltd. and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd.—proposed to construct an 11-kilometer intracity subway with eight to 10 stations that would connect key points in Makati’s two districts at no cost to the city.

The proposed subway is seen to complement the mass transport projects of the national government as it will interconnect with the Metro Railway Transit, the proposed Metro Manila Mega Subway and Pasig River ferry.