Ayala-Aboitiz asks Government to dismiss CALAX appeal
Date
July 24, 2014
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AC Infrastructure Holdings Inc. and Aboitiz Land, Inc., members of the Team Orion consortium that submitted the highest complying bid for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway PPP project, together filed with the Philippine Office of the President a Comment on the Memorandum of Appeal put forward by Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. (San Miguel Corp.) last June 27, 2014.
On June 11 the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) disqualified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) from bidding for the P35.42-billion (around US$800 million) PPP project.
DPWH's Special Bids and Awards Committee disqualified Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. (San Miguel Corp.) after it failed to comply with the bidding rules, particularly on the validity of its bid security.
Team Orion raised the following points in its Comment on the Memorandum of Appeal:
- Optimal cannot be allowed to undo and reset the bidding process simply by its own announcement of its alleged bid, given that it is non-verifiable and legally non-existent, "a bid that was returned unopened and that was, in a manner of speaking, officially dead, especially after Appellant [Optimal] spoiled it as evidence."
- Public policy and the dictates of transparency and good governance demand strict compliance with the bidding rules.
- The sanctity and integrity of the PPP framework and bidding process must be protected, lest confidence in the process is undermined.
- Optimal forfeited its right to question the Resolution by its failure to appeal prior to its implementation and by its compliance with the Resolution through its appearance before the SBAC and acceptance of its Technical and Financial Bid in compliance with the Resolution. Optimal did not follow the legal process and went to the media to announce its alleged bid. It appealed to the Office of the President two weeks after its disqualification has been implemented and after public opinion has not resulted in the acceptance of the alleged bid, a result which Optimal now seeks from the Office of the President.
The consortium team Orion is formed by AC Infrastructure Holdings Inc., Aboitiz Land Inc., Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings Philippines, Bouygues Travaux, Egis Road Operations and Korea Expressway Corp.For the CALAX project, the private partner shall finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the 47 kilometers close-system toll expressway starting from the existing Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) and ending at South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Mamplasan Interchange in Binan, Laguna. This covers the 28.9 km Cavite Section from Kawit to Silang and the 18.1 km Laguna Section from Silang to SLEX.
CALAX is the DPWH's third and biggest infrastructure project under the government's public-private partnership (PPP) program. The first project, the Daang Hari-SLEX, was awarded to the Ayala group, while the second, the NAIA Expressway, went to Optimal Infrastructure.
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