MPIC remains keen on Sangley airport

MANILA, Philippines — Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is among the companies that are in the running to submit a bid for the Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA).

MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan told The STAR the company remains keen on the development of the SPIA, having already purchased bid documents for the massive airport development project.

“Yes, we have bought the bid documents,” Pangilinan said.

“We are interested in principle, but no commitments at this time,” he said.

Pangilinan earlier told The STAR that the SPIA project “looks interesting” for the infrastructure conglomerate, particularly because the airport connects to the company’s southern tollways.

MPIC was one of the companies that purchased bid documents for the SPIA project during its first auction in 2019, but eventually did not submit an actual bid.

In the first bidding of the SPIA project, the consortium of Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp. and China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. emerged victorious, submitting the sole bid.

The airport deal awarded to the consortium, however, was terminated last January due to the various deficiencies of the submission of requirements to conclude the joint venture agreement, prompting the provincial government of Cavite to start anew with its search for a partner.

A total of three companies have bought the bid documents for the second bidding of the massive airport project as of last month.

A new deadline has been set on June 28, meaning interested parties will be allowed to register as candidate joint venture partners and purchase the bid documents up to the said date.

“In response to written requests and in view of the recent GCQ status declaration in NCR Plus, including the province of Cavite, please be advised that the deadline for the registration of candidate JV partners and the purchase of the RFP (request for proposals) for the second bidding of the SPIA has been extended,” a letter from the project’s public-private partnership-selection committee stated.

The Cavite government had earlier decided to extend the deadline for the purchase of the project’s bid documents to May 14 from the original deadline of March 30 due to requests from prospective bidders, and in view of the previous ECQ status declaration in NCR Plus.

Deadline for submission of proposals was originally set on May 4.

Depending on the number of proposals to be received, the Cavite government was previously targeting to issue the notice of selection and award by June 1 and sign the joint venture and development agreement a month after or by July 1.

The winning join venture partner will be responsible for co-developing the airport project, together with the province of Cavite, as well as provide the necessary equity investment, debt financing and credit enhancements.

It will also be tasked to secure or perform the engineering, procurement, and construction services for the land and airport development components of the project.

MPIC-unit Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) had earlier proposed to construct a five-kilometer spur road connecting the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (CAVITEX) to the Sangley airport.

The spur road is part of a 22-kilometer toll road proposal in Cavite by MPTC-unit Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. and the Philippine Reclamation Authority.