THE GOVERNMENT has rejected the unsolicited proposal of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) and JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (JGS) for the long-term development of Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga.

Department of Transportation (DoTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said the government instead will conduct a bidding for Clark’s operations and maintenance (O&M) contract.

This is in line with the government’s strategy to build the infrastructure for CIA, and bid out the O&M contract to the private sector.

“We approved the parameters and guidelines for O&M, then they will be published, then we will have a bidding process,” Mr. Tugade told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Feb. 22.

Mr. Tugade did not specify a timeline for the bidding process.

Public-Private Partnership Center Executive Director Ferdinand A. Pecson said the O&M contract for Clark is targeted to be rolled out this year.

Last November 2017, the Filinvest-JG Summit joint venture submitted to the DoTr and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA)   a P839-billion proposal for the long-term development of the airport, which includes the expansion of terminals and runways, along with the operation and maintenance of passenger terminals.

The Gokongwei and Gotianun companies also proposed to develop, operate and maintain the commercial assets of the CIA, which include facilities for general aviation and fixed-base operations, and real estate. FDC and JGS tapped Singapore’s Changi Airports International as the technical partner for the project.

After evaluation by the DoTr and BCDA, Filinvest and JG Summit’s unsolicited proposal was forwarded to the National Economic and Development Authority — Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC).

The DoTr had earlier thumbed down the consortium’s P186.64-billion proposal for the expansion of CIA’s passenger terminal building. The government opted to build the infrastructure, and bid out the O&M contract to the private sector.

The government last December awarded the contract for the construction of Clark’s new terminal building to the joint venture of listed builder Megawide Construction Corp. and Bangalore-based airport operator GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

CIA has long been singled out as a potential alternative gateway to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which accommodated over 39.5 million passengers in 2016, well above its 30.5 million designed capacity.

While this is the second time an offer by the FDC and JG Summit was rejected, the two companies are part of the “super consortium” of seven corporations that submitted to the government a P350-billion proposal to rehabilitate NAIA.

Other members of the consortium include Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.’s Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc.; Ayala Corp.’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.; Alliance Global Group, Inc.; Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

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