Gov’t scraps reg’l airports bidding
The government has stopped the auction for the Regional Airport Projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme to fund the development of the five regional gateways through government appropriations, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said yesterday.
NEDA’s attached agency, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, announced it has received confirmation from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) for the termination of the bidding process.
“The government, through the implementing agencies, the DOTr and CAAP, decided that the projects would be implemented through other modes,” the center said in a statement.
The NEDA Board approved last year the unbundling of the contracts for the development, operations and maintenance of the New Bohol (Panglao), Davao, Iloilo, Laguindingan and Bacolod airports.
Before the cancellation of the auction, DOTr had moved the submission of the qualification documents to June 15 from May with bid submission slated for December.
With the termination of the PPP process, NEDA Undersecretary for Investment Programming Rolando Tungpalan said the hard infrastructure would now be funded through general appropriations while other modes of financing and implementation would be considered for the operations and maintenance (O&M) component of the projects.
“That (O&M) would be decided on later,” he said.
The project attracted interest from top conglomerates including Filinvest Development Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., and Aboitiz InfraCapital.
PPP Center executive director Ferdinand Pecson said the cancellation of the PPP process for the regional airport projects was conveyed during the meeting of the NEDA- Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICCCabCom) last week.
“While the PPP Center believes in the credibility of these airport projects structured as PPP, and gratefully acknowledges the solid interest of the private sector, we respect the
DOTr’s and CAAP’s authority and their decision to terminate the projects,” said the PPP Center in the statement.
Despite the scrapping of the airport projects from the PPP pipeline, the center said the country’s PPP scheme “remains a viable option in the procurement of infrastructure projects” especially those that require an integrated approach (designbuild-operate-maintain) to shorten the procurement process, reduce risks and take advantage of the private sector’s technological expertise and efficiency.
“Notwithstanding this development, the PPP Center remains ready and committed to support government agencies in their infrastructure and development projects. The critical foundations of the PPP Program have been laid down, and the institutions, both in the public and private sectors, are ready to deliver,” the center said.