THE TRANSPORTATION department has started seeking bidders for four Quezon City stations of the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway Project.

The department started issuing bid documents for contract package (CP) 102 which covers the Quezon Avenue and East Avenue underground stations and tunnels on July 8, according to an invitation for bids posted on its official website.

Another package offered is the CP 103, which covers the Anonas and Katipunan underground stations and tunnels.

Both contracts include designing, supplying, installing, constructing, testing, commissioning and training for the underground tunnels and stations.

International competitive bidding will be conducted through the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s procedures.

The department said the eligible nationality of the suppliers should be Japan in the case of the prime contractor and all countries in the case of sub-contractors. 

“In a case where the prime contractor is a joint venture, such joint venture will be eligible provided that the nationality of the lead partner is Japan, that the nationality of other partners are in Japan and/or the Republic of the Philippines, and that the total share of work of Japanese partners in the joint venture is more than 50% of the contract amount,” it added.

A pre-bid conference will be conducted for both contract packages on Aug. 8.

The cost of bid documents for each package is P50,000.

Bids should be submitted on or before 10 a.m. on Oct. 8 accompanied by a bid security of 600 million yen for CP 102 and 800 million yen for CP 103.

Bids will be opened in the presence of bidders’ representatives on Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. at the Office of Procurement Service, Department of Budget and Management in Paco, Manila.

The Philippines and Japan signed in March 2018 the first tranche of the P355.6-billion loan for the project.

The government broke ground on the first three stations in February 2019 after the Transportation department signed a P51-billion deal with the Shimizu joint venture, which consists of Shimizu Corp., Fujita Corp., Takenaka Civil Engineering Co. Ltd., and EEI Corp.

While the public will have to wait until 2025 for full operations of the 17-station subway, the government is planning to launch partial operations, covering the first three stations by 2022.  — Arjay L. Balinbin

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