CDC bares last bidding for DMIA development

The Clark Development Corp. (CDC) said this is the last time it will bid out the contract to develop the $7-billion world-class international passenger terminal at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) or else they will conduct a Swiss challenge.

“This is the last bidding. This cannot fail,” CDC president Benigno N. Ricafort told The Star in an interview.

The first bidding failed after the government disqualified the winning bidder US firm Admiral Energy LCC.

Clark is already accepting unsolicited proposals for the development of the international airport.

Ricafort said a Middle Eastern company is seriously considering building the airport. “The global financial crisis has burned them (Middle Easterns). They don’t want to put their money on paper. They prefer to invest in infrastructure,” he explained further.

Right now, Ricafort said they are making sure that the offerors will be stating their full capabilities in order to avoid another failed bid.

Earlier, Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) executive vice-president Alexander S. Cauguiran said that the winning bidder failed the post auction check.

Cauguiran is head of the joint venture special committee, which conducted the initial bidding for the project last September. During the auction, Admiral Energy was the only one out of the three firms to pass eligibility requirements.

The Chicago-based firm offered a P108-million upfront payment within 10 calendar days, a minimum guaranteed annual payment of P261 million, and a total proposed investment of P12.4 billion, almost double the floor price of P6.4 billion.

However, Admiral Energy’s supposed partners for the project were found out to be experts only in the procurement and installation of airport equipment, not airport operations.

Under the deal, whoever gets the contract for the project has to design, build, finance and operate the new airport.

Clark’s current terminal, the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, has a capacity of two million passengers a year while the new facility can accommodate up to seven million. Clark has two full runways with room to build two more, compared to Manila, which only has space for one runway.