MANILA, Philippines — The deadline for the submission of bid proposals for the Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) project is set for Sept 20, according to Cavite government’s public-private partnership selection committee legal officer Jesse Grepo.
“The final setting of the joint venture proposal submission date was made after a series of extensions requested by prospective bidders, which the committee had granted,” Grepo said.
“Anticipating that ECQ or MECQ might be in effect in Cavite province during that time, the PPP-selection committee further advised that it would issue appropriate guidelines for the virtual submission and opening of joint venture proposals if necessary,” he said.
Grepo said the province of Cavite is seeking to develop the SPIA as a modern, sustainable, and world-class international hub airport development and main gateway without any sovereign debt or guarantee.
As previously reported by The STAR, four companies bought the bid documents for the SPIA project as of its deadline last June 28.
These were infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), state-owned China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC), Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc. (PAGSS) and Mosveldtt Law Office.
MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said early this month the company is open to submitting a bid for the SPIA project, but is still assessing the robustness of domestic and international travel before finalizing a potential offer.
Pangilinan said MPIC would “definitely” need a partner should it decide to make a bid for the massive airport development.
“I think Sangley is a good complement to NAIA because the runway is near enough NAIA and the orientation of the runway is similar to the orientation of existing runway of NAIA, so it’s a good second runway to Manila. I think the investment to make a second runway in Sangley operable is much less than building a new airport. That’s why we’re open to it,” Pangilinan said.
MPIC and PAGSS were among the companies that purchased bid documents for the SPIA project during its first auction in 2019, but did not submit an actual bid.
CCCC and partner MacroAsia won the first bidding for the SPIA project, submitting the sole bid.
The airport deal awarded to the tandem, however, was terminated in January due to the various deficiencies of the submission of requirements to conclude the joint venture agreement, prompting the provincial government of Cavite to start anew with its search for a partner.
A legal qualification requirement has previously been fine-tuned by the Cavite government to address national security concerns in its search for a new partner for the SPIA project. It is now requiring that its joint venture partner should be Philippine majority-owned and controlled, whether it be a single entity or a consortium.
The winning joint venture partner will be responsible for co-developing the airport project, together with the province of Cavite, as well as provide the necessary equity investment, debt financing and credit enhancements.