The Department of Transportation (DoTr) earlier said they will not entertain unsolicited proposals for the Clark Airport redevelopment project. Instead, the DoTr will bid out the operations and maintenance of the gateway “rather than risk delays” encountered in auctions involving the private sector lead to litigation.
Aside from MPIC, Megawide Construction Corp., along with its existing joint venture partner, Bangalore-based airport operator GMR Infrastructure Ltd. — which currently operates the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) — also submitted a $5-billion proposal last year to develop Clark airport. The Filinvest Group and JG Summit Holdings, Inc., also turned in a $3.7-billion unsolicited proposal for the expansion and upgrade of the gateway in Pampanga, with both groups seeing big passenger traffic potential for Clark.
An unsolicited proposal is made to the government by a private company willing to undertake a project, thus it is private-sector led instead of a response to a request from the government. The original proponent of a project gets the advantage in such case under a Swiss challenge — the course the government takes when dealing with unsolicited proposals, which requires an invitation to make competing offers, while giving the original proponent the right to match them.
Meanwhile, aside from the Clark Airport project, MPIC is also keen on reviving its proposal to rehabilitate the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) with the resubmission eyed “within the year.”
“We’re thinking of resubmitting our updated proposal on MRT-3,” Mr. Pangilinan said. “We’re trying to impress the urgency of the issue.”
MPIC — which is involved in the rail, tollways, water, power, hospitals, and logistics businesses — first submitted a proposal for the rehabilitation and upgrade of the MRT-3 to the then-Department of Transportation and Communications in 2011. Under the proposal, the infrastructure conglomerate offered to make a $500-million investment to upgrade the railway. The proposal was rejected then as it would involve raising fares.
MPIC is one of three Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
