Gov’t, Calax bid winner set to sign contract soon

THE CONTRACT signing between the government and the private-sector winner of the 45.5-kilometer Cavite Laguna Expressway public private partnership deal is due in the coming days, a government official said.

Ariel Angeles, who heads the Public Private Partnership service of the Department of Public Works and Highways, said in an interview that winner MPCALA Holdings, a unit of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp., had already complied with the post-award requirements.

He said the notice was given to MPCala last Friday, and under the rules, a contract should be signed within five days.

It can be recalled that MPCala was awarded in June the contract to build and operate the Cavite Laguna Expressway, a toll road that would spur development in areas south of Metro Manila, for a period of 35 years.

The company won after submitting a premium offer of P27.3 billion, which was on top of the toll road’s estimated development cost of P35.4 billion. Its sole rival was San Miguel Corp., whose San Miguel Holdings Corp. offered P22.2 billion.

Upon the singing of the contract, Angeles said MPCala would need to pay the government a premium bid upfront of 20 percent.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments, already operates the 14-km Cavite Manila Expressway in southern Metro Manila apart from 90-km North Luzon Expressway and 94-km Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) north of the capital.

It is also seeking to build an elevated connector road cutting through Metro Manila that would link NLEX with SMC’s South Luzon Expressway.

The Calax will be four-lane expressway that starts at the Cavitex toll gate in Kawit, Cavite, and end at the SLEx-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.

Apart from toll roads, Metro Pacific Investments’ portfolio includes water services through Maynilad Water Services Inc., electricity retail through Manila Electric Co. and private hospitals including the Makati Medical Center. –Miguel R. Camus