DOJ opinion seen to delay MPIC connector road project

MANILA, Philippines - Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) sees further delay in the P18-billion toll road connecting the North Luzon expressway and the South Luzon expressway after the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an opinion on the legality of the joint venture with state-run Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC).

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has issued an opinion dated July 7 that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) erred when it approved the joint venture between MPIC’s Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC) and PNCC on the connector road project.

Based on the recommendation of Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, the NEDA Board approved the amendment or extension of existing joint venture between MPTDC and PNCC as well as the supplemental toll operations agreement (STOA) to cover the extension of the franchise of NLEX under Presidential Decree 1894.

De Lima said in the 68-page letter sent to Transportation Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla that “the NEDA Board approval appears to have been issued beyond its powers, and without factual basis or justification.”

Even if the proposal is to proceed, instead, in accordance with the scheme described in the NEDA Board’s amended approval, De Lima said all government agencies, bodies and officials are constitutionally and statutorily required to ensure that such proposals do not merely offer advantageous terms from a business perspective.

She added that it would be highly unwise and even contrary to the tenets of good governance to suddenly convert an unsolicited proposal, which is about to be subjected to Swiss Challenge, into another mode of implementation by entering a joint between the Unsolicited Proponent and the PNCC.

“Thus, any perception that piggybacking on the franchise of PNCC would, in any way, allow the unsolicited proposal of MPTDC to evade or circumvent the Swiss Challenge requirement or would allow it to obtain the contract without competitive challenge, is erroneous,” she said.

MPTDC president Ramoncito Fernandez said in an interview with reporters the company is amenable to subjecting its unsolicited connector road project proposal to a “Swiss Challenge.”

“If you ask me, I believe it should be shorter than six months. It’s just a revival of what was stopped last year. We are now studying our options whether to go back to unsolicited or not, because we have retained that right until we are awarded a contract,” Fernandez explained.

The NLEX SLEX connector project was originally submitted to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in May 2010 under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law.

The joint venture arrangement between Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) and PNCC was duly approved by the NEDA Board in January last year.

Malacañang has earlier directed the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to immediately resolve the legal hurdles to the NLEX-SLEX connector road.