Cavite wraps up review of Sangley bid

MANILA, Philippines — The Cavite government’s public-private partnership selection committee expects to finish the ongoing evaluation of the sole bid for the Sangley Point International Airport project this week.

The review has taken time to complete as “careful and rigorous” evaluation of the proposal submitted is being undertaken, the selection committee’s legal officer Jesse Grepo said.

“Hopefully the PPP selection committee finishes the evaluation by the first week of February,” Grepo said.

“So far, everything is proceeding as planned. Hope that it continues that way,” he said.

Taal Volcano’s eruption has stalled the evaluation of the airport proposal as the committee and technical working group members got involved in relief efforts, Grepo said earlier.

The evaluation of the proposal by the tandem of Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp. and China Communications Construction Corp. (CCCC) for the airport project was earlier eyed for completion and award on Jan. 15, but was later on moved to the end of the month or by the first week of February.

“Assuming that the proposal submitted passes the evaluation, a notice of award will be given. Groundbreaking, if ever, will have to be scheduled with all stakeholders involved,” Grepo said.

The development of the $10 billion Sangley Point International Airport is being implemented as a local government public-private partnership joint venture by the provincial government of Cavite.

The tandem of MacroAsia, a dominant aviation support service provider and the country’s market leader in ground handling services, and state-owned engineering and construction company CCCC was the sole bidder for the airport project last month.

The project earlier secured the interest of companies like Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Prime Asset Ventures Inc. of real estate magnate and former senator Manuel Villar Jr., Philippine Airport Ground Solutions Inc., and Megawide Construction Corp.

Last week, Malacañang dared bidders who backed out of the airport project to  file complaints if they have proof that there are anomalies in the bidding process.

The consortium that includes state-run CCCC was reportedly favored from the start, based on the joint venture documents and feasibility study for the project.

CCCC was previously debarred by the World Bank due to alleged fraudulent practices by one of its subsidiaries, China Road and Bridge Corp., with sanctions extending to the entire group under CCCC and all its affiliate companies worldwide. 

The debarment was lifted in Jan. 2017 and CCCC has since been allowed to participate in all World Bank Group-financed tenders.