Bidder asks DOTC to open its offer for LRT-MRT 1-ticket system

MANILA, Philippines - E-Trans Solutions Joint Venture, Inc. (E-Trans), a bidder for the automated fare collection system (AFCS) project of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), is asking the government agency to open its financial proposal for the LRT-MRT single-ticketing system.

The request comes in the wake of the DOTC’s announcement that the department will consider only the bids of the SM and AF consortia.

“E-Trans feels that the DOTC’s consideration of only these two bidders withholds crucial information from taxpayers and the intended beneficiaries of the AFCS – the one million commuters who use the system every day,” said Conrad Tolentino, lawyer for the E-Trans consortium.

DOTC did not open E-Trans’ financial bid after the department rated its technical proposal as failed in an evaluation process that E-Trans is questioning due to the lack of procedural transparency.

According to Tolentino, E-Trans has raised with the bids and awards committee (BAC) its concerns over the application of unwritten rules in DOTC’s assessment of technical qualifications, as well as the waiving of other rules that resulted in the qualification of the final two bidders. This left unopened E-Trans’s financial proposal, which the consortium believes will positively impact the project’s financial and operational sustainability.

“Such opacity begs the question as to whether artificial barriers to entry were placed on small but dynamic new players to benefit the usual big fish,” Tolentino added. “In this case, we believe the small fish offer more to the Filipino people, and the DOTC should open E-Trans’ financial proposal, especially since the department has yet to address concerns we have raised regarding their process.”

The SM consortium is composed of several companies owned by the Sy family while the AF consortium is led by the Ayala and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. groups.

E-Trans also sent a number of letters to the BAC inquiring as to the specifics of DOTC’s rules in determining the date of submission of bids, the determination of the final version of the agreement that would govern the AFCS, as well as whether the National Economic and Development Authority approved the project structure as required by law.

“As far as we know, none of these queries have been answered by the DOTC,” Tolentino remarked.

“We hope the DOTC will open E-Trans’ financial proposal in the interest of fairness and transparency, and so that the public may know whether the people’s best interests are being served.”

E-Trans is a consortium of information technology and financial companies, and is a partner of Kentkart, a leading provider of AFCS services in countries across Europe and the Middle East.