NEWS

By Richmond Mercurio

STAR/File

MANILA, Philippines — The provincial government of Cavite is eyeing to reopen the Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) project to interested parties this month after it terminated last week the airport deal previously awarded to the tandem of Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp. and China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC).

Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla told The STAR over the weekend that they are targeting to come out with the bid documents for the SPIA project by Feb. 15. “We are holding off any inquiries until the bid documents are out,” he said.

Remulla, in a social media post last week, announced that the Cavite provincial government special selection committee has recommended the non-approval of the redevelopment of the former airbase due to the various deficiencies of the submission of requirements to conclude the joint venture agreement for the SPIA project.

This was confirmed by MacroAsia, which said it was able to receive a letter from the provincial government of Cavite stating that pursuant to the recommendation of the public-private partnership selection committee, the notice of selection and award for the SPIA project issued on Feb. 12, 2020 to them was cancelled.

MacroAsia and CCCC were previously given three extensions by the Cavite provincial government to complete their post qualification requirements in consideration of the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Remulla said that while negotiations with the MacroAsia-CCCC team have been cancelled, the project would restart and hopefully have a successful negotiation with any qualified partner.

He said a new international airport is important for the country in the long run, stressing that the cancellation is not in prejudice of anyone applying again.

The cancellation now presents an opportunity for the country’s tycoons and former NAIA aspirants to potentially reunite and bid for the massive airport project.

A super team of conglomerates has previously banded together to form the so-called NAIA Consortium in a bid to rehabilitate the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport, but negotiations with the government bogged down last year after more than two years of negotiations.

“We will consult with the other members of the consortium…the original NAIA consortium,” AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. president and CEO Jose Rene Almendras told The STAR last week when asked if the Ayala Group would want to take a shot at the now vacant airport project.

Aside from AC Infrastructure, members of the consortium include Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).

MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, for his part said the SPIA project “looks interesting.”

“We don’t know enough about the project–the little we know we’ve gleaned from media accounts. But it looks interesting–not least because the airport connects to our Southern tollways,” Pangilinan also told The STAR last week.

MPIC was one of the companies that purchased bid documents for the SPIA project, but did not submit an actual bid.

Aboitiz InfraCapital president and CEO Cosette Canilao said the company remains open to look at opportunities in the airport sector.

“We have always believed that airports will be key to reviving the economy,” she told The STAR.

Meanwhile, Megawide Construction Corp., which is fresh from being rejected by the government for its NAIA rehabilitation proposal, said it has not thought about the SPIA project yet.

“We can’t say at this point. We’ll have to assess the terms first, but right now, we’ll focus on other existing projects,” Megawide chief business development officer Jim Feliciano told The STAR last week.

Megawide previously expressed interest in the SPIA project. It accessed the documents through another party that bought it in behalf of the company.

Other parties which bought bid documents back in 2019 for the SPIA project were Prime Asset Ventures Inc., Philippine Airport Ground Solutions Inc. and Langham Properties Inc.

The MacroAsia-CCCC tandem, however, submitted the sole bid for the project in 2019.

The SPIA project is being undertaken by the Cavite government under the Public-Private Partnership Code, which no longer require the approval of the National Economic and Development Authority for implementation.

Source: The Philippine Star