MPIC, SMC may team up for MRT 3 bidding

MANILA, Philippines  —Tycoons Manuel Pangilinan and Ramon Ang may join forces in a takeover bid for Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, signaling stronger ties between the country’s biggest conglomerates after previously teaming up for big-ticket expressway projects.

Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Ang-led San Miguel Corp. (SMC) already submitted separate unsolicited proposals for MRT3 operations and maintenance (O&M), but the Department of Transportation (DOTr) recently decided to take the solicited bidding route, effectively rejecting the two tycoons’ bids.

READ:  Gov’t opts for MRT 3 solicited bidding

In solicited bids, the government invites companies to look into a project through parameters it will provide, including the cost and ways by which an infrastructure will have to be operated. Unsolicited proposals, meanwhile, are initiated by private sector proponents.

On the sidelines of an event on Thursday in Makati, Pangilinan told reporters they want to participate in the bidding.

“We probably would participate in that. I guess it depends eventually on the terms of reference for the bid that the government will draft,” he said.

Partnership a possibility

Pangilinan said it’s also a “possibility” for MPIC and SMC to partner, rather than compete, for the O&M bidding.

“I think it might be good for us to reach out to SMC and see what we can do,” he said. “There are ongoing discussions in other areas with them, partnerships.”

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Should they collaborate, this would be MPIC and SMC’s next big project after inking partnership for the 88-kilometer Cavite-Batangas Expressway and Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway. These tollway projects are slated for groundbreaking this year.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista recently said they prefer the bidding process as this would allow the government to lay out the terms of the contract in their own accord.

The DOTr is currently working with the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines for the MRT 3 O&M package, which is also eyed to be bundled with Light Rail Transit Line 2.