Constructors prepare bids to build Philippine superhighway

San Miguel Corp, Metro Pacific Investments Corp and AlloyMtd Group, Malaysia’s second biggest toll-road operator, confirmed plans to submit pre-qualification documents by September 26. Ayala Corp was also reportedly interested in participating, an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways said. 

The DPWH, which will implement the PPP deal estimated to cost 35.42 billion pesos (Bt25.5 billion) for a 47-kilometre stretch, last week said the project would be fully designed, financed and built by the winning private-sector bidder. 

The restructured PPP holds the private sector responsible for the financing, design, construction and maintenance of the project, which it will operate for a period of 35 years. 

The DPWH is expecting the bid submissions by December this year, with the tender awarded by January 14. This will allow the winning bidder to start construction by March 2015 for completion by March 2018, as called for under the original timetable. 

The DPWH said the project would not only increase the competitiveness of the region, known as Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), but also decongest the area and shorten travel time to Manila. Calabarzon is home to factories of multinational companies engaged in electronics, automotive and semiconductor manufacturing businesses. 

In a presentation last March, the DPWH outlined the importance of the Cavite-Laguna expressway as it noted that the surrounding provinces were the second-biggest contributor to the Philippines’s total economic output at 17.4 per cent, just behind the 35-per-cent contribution of Metro Manila. 

So far, only three PPP deals, two expressways and a classroom infrastructure project have been successfully awarded by the Aquino administration since the keystone PPP programme was launched in 2010.