Who will get the Clark int’l airport O&M

Same story, different airport.

There’s no lack of stories on airport woes here in our country.

I’m reminded of this again as I heard of another brewing controversy surrounding the bidding for the operations and maintenance contract of the Clark international airport.

It’s one of the stories that greeted me as soon as I got home after a short escape to Siem Reap, one of the most charming places in the Indochina peninsula.

First, there’s the decision of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) not to pursue the massive airport project.

You know it’s that bad when a giant conglomerate such as MPIC decides to pull out of the race. MPIC after all is used to complex bidding processes, the politics of the infrastructure game and all the nuisances that go with every administration’s much-trumpeted infrastructure program.

But even a veteran like MPIC found the Clark bidding too challenging.

It said that the current draft of the concession agreement was extremely challenging, given the identified material risks that were not addressed.

The schedule of the bid submission further made participation in the bid very difficult, considering that the final draft of the concession agreement was released only last week, said the infrastructure giant.

The opening of bids — postponed several times — was supposed to happen on Monday, Nov. 5, but the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) postponed it anew to tomorrow (Nov. 9).

What’s happening, BCDA?

The bidding has been stalled several times.

Originally launched in May 2018, the bid submission date was supposed to be on July 20.

This was changed several times between August and November — at least six revised dates in five months.

Eight bidders purchased the bid documents, but industry sources said that at present, only four bidders continue to attend BCDA’s briefings.

These are AirAsia Group, Megawide-GMR Consortium, Filinvest Development Corp. and MPIC — that is until MPIC announced that it has lost appetite in bidding for the airport contract.

It must have been too much for MPIC. The final contract and bid documents were released after working hours on Oct. 31 when most people were already on their long weekend break.

BCDA then gave prospective bidders until Nov. 5 to submit their bids. Between Oct. 31 and Nov. 5 were several days of holidays.

It’s good that BCDA decided to give bidders until Nov. 9 to prepare their bids. This time, it’s for real, the BCDA said on the new date.

With MPIC likely out, three more are in the race, but industry sources said that the AirAsia Group does not qualify on financial criteria, while Megawide’s partner GMR does not qualify on technical criteria.

This might leave Filinvest Development Corp. as the lone bidder.

I think Filinvest might have a different risk appetite given the challenges surrounding the bidding. It’s not surprising if it does have a different risk appetite given the group’s massive investments in the area such as in the 201-hectare Filinvest Mimosa+ Leisure Estate, the former Clark Mimosa Estate.

It is even putting up its own casino in the sprawling property. The Filinvest Group’s Mimosa Cityscapes already has a provisional license from the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. (Pagcor) for an integrated casino resort.

Given these investments, it makes sense for Filinvest to really vie for the Clark airport.

But the government should ensure a fair and transparent bidding process.

A process saddled by challenges and controversies would indeed turn off investors such as MPIC, which is forced to withdraw from a project that it clearly wanted to support.

Perhaps, there should be independent agencies such as the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel to examine and review all the bid documents, the bid process and the bid conduct to ensure that the government gets the best value out of a project of such national economic importance.

This is, after all, a bidding process for a massive infrastructure project and not just for a waiting shed or some series of street signs.

This is the Clark International Airport, which if developed well has the potential to be the country’s second main gateway.

It’s something we urgently need now given the current state of our main gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Indeed, the story is the same, but the airport is different.

At the end of the day, these airport woes really tell us that the country’s gateways need urgent attention. We needed new airports yesterday.

Hopefully, whether it’s in Bulacan, Clark, Sangley or NAIA, it does happen. And soon.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]