Two-cornered fight looms Ayala, Filinvest offer bids for P4-B transport hub

MANILA, Philippines - Two of the country’s top property developers are bidding for the P4-billion Integrated Transport System (ITS)-South Terminal project.

During yesterday’s opening of bids for the public-private partnership (PPP) project, Transport Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla identified the two companies as Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI).

“Two bidders have submitted their bid documents – Ayala  Land and Filinvest Land. We are quite happy with the turnout. These bidders are really experienced in this kind of business,” Lotilla said.

Other companies which have earlier submitted pre-qualification documents, but decided not to submit their technical bids for the project are Datem Inc. and Megawide Construction Corp.

The project, which will serve passengers coming from south of Metro Manila, will be located on a 4.7-hectare lot inside the Food Terminal Inc (FTI) complex in Taguig City.

The project will also include the construction of passenger terminal buildings, arrival and departure bays, public information systems, ticketing and baggage handling facilities, and park-ride facilities.

The winning bidder will be responsible for the design, construction as well as  operation and maintenance of   the terminal hub.

Construction of the project is expected to start in the second quarter of 2016, while the opening of the terminal is targeted in December 2017.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has 20 days to evaluate the technical bids of ALI and FLI. Evaluation of their financial offers would take another 15 days.

Meanwhile, Datem said it decided to withdraw as a prospective bidder “due to concerns related to the commercial viability of the project.”

Megawide, for its part, said the company shared the concern of the other bidder on the commercial viability of the project. “We are choosing instead to focus on our existing transport infrastructure projects, ITS-Southwest and Mactan Airport,” it said.