3 groups qualify to bid for P123-B Laguna Lakeshore Expressway

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has cleared three of the four groups that submitted qualification documents for the P123-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway and Dike project late last month.

DPWH Undersecretary Rafael Yabut said the agency’s Prequalification Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) has prequalified Team Trident, a unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and Alloy-PAVI Hanshin LLED Consortium to join the bidding for the largest Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project so far rolled out by the Aquino administration.

Team Trident or Trident Infrastructure and Development Corp. (TIDC) is composed of Cebu-based conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV), property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), Megaworld Corp. of tycoon Andrew Tan, and SM Prime Holdings Inc. of retail and banking magnate Henry Sy. The four publicly-listed companies with a market capitalization of about P1.6 trillion have an equal 25 percent stake in the consortium.

SMC is represented by wholly-owned subsidiary San Miguel Holdings Corp. while the Alloy-PAVI Hanshin LLED Consortium is composed of Malaysia’s MTD Group, Prime Asset Venture Inc. of the Villar Group, Korean Hanshin Construction Corp. and Korea Rural Corp.

Yabut said the Rainbow Consortium likely failed to make the cut.

“Team Trident, SMC and the Alloy-PAVI Hanshin Group have been prequalified, while the DPWH is finalizing the disqualification of the Rainbow Consortium,” Yabut said in a text message.

The Rainbow Consortium is composed of Rainbow Holdings Inc., PT Nusa Konstrukski Enjiniring Tbk (NKE), The No. 4 Metallurgical Constn. Co. of China Ltd. (4MCC), Shindong-Ah Constn. Co. Ltd. (SCC), Director Operation and Maintenance by Rainbow Consortium, Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC), Santa Lucia Land Inc., Dong Myeong Engineering Consultants & Architecture Co. Ltd, and Kunhwa Engineering & Consulting Co. Ltd.

The tentative schedule for submission of technical and financial proposals is on July 6. The DPWH hopes to award the project on Aug 21, paving the way for the signing of the concession agreement on Sept. 20.

The LLEDP involves the construction of a 47-kilometer flood control dike on top of which will be a high speed six-lane expressway starting from Taguig, passes through Muntinlupa and Calamba, and ends in Los Banos at its boundary with Bay, Laguna.

Likewise, the PPP project also includes the reclamation of about 700 hectares of foreshore and offshore areas, west of the dike, in Taguig and Muntinlupa.

Data from the PPP Center showed that the Aquino administration has rolled out 22 PPP projects worth P518.9 billion. Nine PPP projects worth P135.36 billion have been awarded, raising over P36 billion in premium payments.

These include the Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway link road (P2 billion), PPP for School Infrastructure Project Phase 1 (P8.86 billion), the PSIP-2 (P16.28 billion), the modernization project for the Philippine Orthopedic Center (P5.98 billion), the Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway (P15.52 billion), the automated fare collection system project (P1.72 billion), the Mactan – Cebu International Airport expansion project (P17.5 billion), and the Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite extension project (P65 billion), and the P2.5 billion Integrated Transport System (ITS) – Southwest Terminal.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) through the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has launched out the bidding for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of six provincial airports including Puerto Princesa, Iloilo, Bacolod-Silay, Davao, Laguindingan, and New Bohol (Panglao) worth P128 billion.