DOTC sets meeting on revised terms of Southwest bus terminal

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is set to meet with the interested bidders of the P2.5 billion bus terminal project to discuss the revised terms of the public private partnership (PPP) project.

Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, DOTC undersecretary, issued General Bid Bulletin 12- 2014 containing the schedule of the one-on-one meeting with the prospective bidders from July 21 to July 24 to tackle the revised terms for the Integrated Transport System project – Southwest Terminal.

Lotilla, who is also chairman of the agency’s Special Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), reminded the interested bidders to submit their queries within the week.

The DOTC is set to meet with conglomerate Ayala Corp. and property giant Ayala Land; Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC); and D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc. on Monday.

The agency would meet with diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), Vicente Lai Construction, and EGIS Projects SA of France on Tuesday and with Roblnsons Land Corp. of taipan John Gokongwei, Filinvest Land Inc. of businessman Andrew Gotianun, and Filipino-owned Megawide Construction Corp. on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the DOTC would meet with State Properties Corp., Expedition Construction Corp., and Altus San Nicolas Corp.

Earlier, DOTC undersecretary Rene Limcaoco issued General Bid Bulletin 11 – 2014 moving the deadline for the submission of bids to Aug. 30 instead of June 16 due to the revised terms approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board chaired by President Aquino.

The original deadline of submission of bids for the public private partnership (PPP) partnership was scheduled last May 15, but was moved to June 16 as the DOTC amended the terms of the concession agreement to make it more attractive to prospective investors

The extension of the deadline would give interested bidders more time to comment on the revised bidding documents that was approved by the NEDA Board last June 2.

The Southwest terminal project is to be situated in a 2.9-hectare property located at the Coastal Road Terminal along the Manila-Cavite Expressway. It would connect passengers coming from Cavite to other urban transport systems such as the future Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT) South Extension to Bacoor in Cavite, city bus, taxi, and other public utility vehicles plying Metro Manila.

The project would include a passenger terminal building, arrival and departure bays, public information system, ticketing and baggage handling facilities and park-ride facilities.

The DOTC pointed out that the proponent would finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain the ITS project for a period of 35 years.

The NEDA Board also approved changes in the terms of the P4 billion ITS-South Terminal project at the FTI Complex along the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).

The DOTC is also looking at putting up an ITS-North Terminal project to be situated either at the Manila Seedling Bank or near the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.