DPWH to postpone deadline for P35.4-B Calax tollroad bids

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is expected to defer anew the submission of bids for the P35.4-billion Cavite – Laguna expressway (Calax) project to give bidders more time.

Cosette Canilao, executive director of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Center, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Invest Transport ph organized by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) that the DPWH would be issuing a bid bulletin to set the new date for the submission of bids.

 â€œThere are requests from the bidders for more time so the DPWH is deliberating on the deadline for the bid submissions to accommodate the bidders,” Canilao said.

She pointed out that same groups are bidding for the proposed expressway that would connect the provinces of Cavite and Laguna, the P65 billion Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT1) Cavite extension project, and the P2.5 billion Integrated Transport System at the end of Coastal Road in Paranaque .

 â€œWe have almost similar projects for the three projects LRT1, Calax and ITS. So I suppose there are still hanging issues that they want resolved and they want to understand some more hence they are requesting for the push back in the submission,” she added.

Isaac David, president of MTD Philippines, said the group has asked the DPWH to extend the deadline for submission of bids for Calax by one week or two weeks because of the holidays during the Holy Week.

 â€œApril 21 is the Monday after Easter Sunday and our documents will be coming from Malaysia and every document has to be Consularized,” David said.

Earlier, DPWH undersecretary Rafael Yabut issued Supplemental Bid Bulletin No. 12 extending the deadline for the submission of bid proposal for the PPP project to April 21 instead of Jan. 20.

The DPWH has prequalified all the four bidders for the 47-kilometer closed-system tolled expressway that would connect the South Luzon expressway (SLEX) and the Manila Cavite Tollroad expressway (Cavitex).

Last Nov. 4, the DPWH prequalified three groups including the Ayala-led Team “Orion”, MPCALA Holdings Inc. of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp., and Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp.

The four-lane expressway starting from the Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite and end at the SLEX-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna would have a concession period of 35 years including design and construction of four years.

This is the third PPP expressway project of the DPWH bid out under the Aquino administration. The first is the Daang Hari-SLEX link project scheduled for completion by June next year while Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expressway project is under detailed engineering design stage following the signing of concession agreement last July 8.