DOTr reviews unsolicited proposals for regional airports

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is reviewing the unsolicited proposals for the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) and upgrade of some of the country’s regional airports, an official of the agency said.

In an interview, Transportation Undersecretary for planning Ruben Reinoso Jr. said unsolicited proposals for the New Bohol International Airport in Panglao and the Davao International Airport are currently under review.

Among these unsolicited proposals are that of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc.’s O&M and expansion of the New Bohol International Airport and Dennis Uy-led Chelsea Logistics Corp.’s proposal for the Davao International Airport.

Reinoso said while both companies earlier submitted bundled unsolicited proposals for a number of the country’s regional airports, the DOTr asked the groups to unbundle their proposals as many of the airports can stand on their own.

He added the two companies have resubmitted their proposal and the DOTr is currently reviewing them.

“We’re running the numbers. We will have to compare what they are offering and what we are doing now,” Reinoso said referring to the performance of the airports while being operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

“We have to look at the net present value of their offer against the net present value of us doing the operation, maintenance and expansion of the airport,” Reinoso added.

He also said the DOTr is reviewing a resubmitted unsolicited proposal for the O&M and upgrade of the Kalibo International Airport by Filipino-Chinese firm Mega7 Construction Corp., which is led by a certain Andrew Ngui.

He said the company earlier submitted an unsolicited proposal, but was asked to resubmit due to lack of documents.

Asked about the upgrade and O&M of the rest of the country’s regional airports such as the Bacolod-Silay Airport and Iloilo International Airport, Reinoso said these may be bidded out.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade told reporters the upgrade and O&M of the Sangley Point International Airport has received two proposals, one unsolicited and one government-to-government.

A consortium between Henry Sy’s Belle Corp. and the Tieng-led All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. earlier submitted a $12-billion unsolicited proposal for the Sangley airport.

In contrast, the government-to-government proposal was submitted by the local government unit of Cavite which is pegged at $9.3 billion.

„Under the rules, if there are two proposals, the priority is government-to government,“ Tugade said.

He added that there are no objections to this rule and that DOTr is currently reviewing the government-to-government proposal.

“But right now we are focusing on all of these unsolicited because there is timetable under the law,” Reinoso said.

Apart from bidding, the expansion of these projects may also be open to Official Development Assistance, as it offers long term interest at cheaper cost.