Ayala/Aboitiz group to Aquino on road project: Just make a choice

Cavite-Laguna Expressway Route Map www.dpwh.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines — Just make a choice and if it is not us, we promise not to sue.

That in sum was the content of a motion sent Monday by the Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Land Inc. combine Team Orion to President Benigno Aquino III, who said last week he was “inclined” to have the Cavite Laguna Expressway (Calax) rebid after his intervention was sought four months ago by disqualified San Miguel Corp. unit Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc.

Team Orion said Aquino should simply choose a “winner”, and that a rebidding of the P35.4-billion Calax public-private-partnership project would only cause further delays, and potentially damage the integrity of the PPP Program.

The SMC unit said it should have been declared the winner by virtue of its substantially higher bid instead of being disqualified on a technicality.

Team Orion said it still believed it should be awarded the project, which is meant to spur development in areas south of Metro Manila. The winner of the project, which is being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways, will build and operate Calax for a period of 35 years.

“Team Orion reiterates its position that OIDI’s appeal be dismissed and that the DPWH decision disqualifying OIDI from the Calax bid must be upheld on the grounds that OIDI’s bid was not only deficient but was also not reviewed for technical compliance,” Team Orion said in a statement Monday.

“However, should the President decide to grant OIDI’s appeal, Team Orion will respect such decision and commits to abide by it without legal recourse,” it said. “Team Orion hopes that OIDI also extend the same courtesy to the President should the President decide to reject its appeal and uphold the DPWH decision.”

Team Orion hoped that its motion filed at the Office of the President “will trigger a final resolution of this long-drawn impasse and allow this vital infrastructure initiative to proceed in earnest.”

The move was the latest twist in an unfolding issue that started four months ago, when OIDI decided to challenge its disqualification over a technicality—the date on its bid bond validity came up four days short of the required 180 days.

The matter became complicated because SMC’s offer, while not opened by the DPWH last June 13, turned out to be the biggest offer at P20.1 billion compared to Team Orion’s P11.659 billion, considered the “highest complying bid.”

Multiple government sources noted that Aquino’s decision was mainly based on the P8.4 billion gap between Team Orion’s offer and that of the San Miguel-backed Optimal Infrastructure, in spite of what the bidding rules said.

Team Orion said earlier it would not participate in a rebid while the two other losing “qualified” groups, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Malaysia’s MTD Group said they were also unlikely to join. It was earlier pointed out that a rebid would be complicated, because there would already be a perceived floor price, which is OIDI’s P20.1 billion offer.

“The pricing of each bidder was already made known to all. Even if the bid parameter will be lowest toll rate, pricing and estimates of the bidders were divulged already. In our case, our bid will still be the same,” MTD Philippines president Isaac David said.

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