PPP Center endorses Megawide offer for EDSA busway

MANILA, Philippines — The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center has endorsed the unsolicited proposal submitted by Megawide Construction Corp. to operate and maintain the exclusive lane for buses in EDSA.

PPP Center deputy executive director Jeffrey Manalo told The STAR that the agency has given its green light to Megawide’s offer to run the EDSA busway.

The next step for Megawide is to wait for the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to decide whether it would accept the unsolicited proposal.

“The PPP Center has endorsed the unsolicited proposal from Megawide for the EDSA busway. It is now DOTr that is conducting a detailed review and evaluation, (and) they need to decide if they will return or reject it, or proceed to the next stage,” Manalo said.

Records seen by The STAR showed that the PPP Center endorsed the unsolicited proposal to the DOTr on Feb. 17. As such, the DOTr has until this month to do its detailed evaluation, and it is close to coming up with a decision on the next steps for the project.

“The PPP Center has 10 days only to determine completeness and we have done that, (while) the DOTr has 90 days for the detailed evaluation,” Manalo said.

The DOTr may accept Megawide’s proposal or turn down the offer in favor of an open bidding for the project.

If the solicited route is chosen, the DOTr has to return the unsolicited proposal to clear the path for an open bidding, in which Megawide can participate with a different tender.

In April, Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said the DOTr was planning to bid out the contract for the project by 2025.

Megawide, however, proposed the EDSA busway project to boost its transport business, viewing the project as complementary to Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).

The company developed and operates the PITX, which can serve as many as 200,000 passengers daily.

The infrastructure giant led by tycoon Edgar Saavedra also plans to build a counterpart terminal in Monumento, the northernmost stop for buses plying the EDSA busway.

If Megawide succeeds in taking over the EDSA busway, it aims to create a bus loop between the north and south of Metro Manila, from Monumento to PITX, for the convenience of commuters.