THE Aboitiz group, a Villar-controlled company and Udenna Infrastructure Corp. are expected to receive original proponent status (OPS) soon for their separate unsolicited proposals for the airports in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental; Iloilo; and Bacolod.
Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo told reporters last week the Department of Transportation (DoTr) wants to award OPS within the first quarter to Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. (AIC), Prime Asset Ventures, Inc. (PAVI) and Udenna Infrastructure, controlled by Davao businessman Dennis A. Uy, for their airport proposals.
“There are three of those airports. That’s Iloilo, Laguindingan and Bacolod. We hope to issue the OPS upon approval of the board, CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) board. We’re looking at Feb. 11 ata, next board meeting,” he said on Thursday.
AIC submitted last year a P42.7-billion proposal to operate and maintain (O&M) and expand Laguindingan Airport, which serves greater Cagayan de Oro.
Villar-controlled PAVI, meanwhile, is seeking the rehabilitation, O&M and expansion concession for Iloilo International Airport.
Mr. Uy’s Udenna is proposing to take on the expansion, capacity augmentation and O&M contract for Bacolod-Silay Airport.
Earlier, AIC sought to modernize four regional airports with its P148-billion bundled proposal for Iloilo, Bacolod-Silay, Laguindingan and New Bohol (Panglao) airports.
Mr. Uy’s Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. (CLC) also submitted a P67-billion bundled proposal for the Davao and New Bohol (Panglao) airports.
But the DoTr rejected both bundled proposals, noting it wants separate submissions per airport. Since then, AIC was given OPS in September for its revised proposal for the New Bohol (Panglao) International Airport, and CLC in October for the Davao International Airport.
As unsolicited proposals, these projects are still required to obtain the approval of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and undergo a Swiss challenge, in which other companies are invited to submit counterproposals to that of the proponent. The holder of the OPS has the option to match these counterproposals to retain control of the project.
Part of the DoTr’s aviation road map is the development and rehabilitation of provincial airports to improve air movement across regions. Other projects are the construction of new primary gateways and decongestion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). — Denise A. Valdez
