TIEZA to offer Bohol resort, Intramuros golf club to JV partners

THE Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center on Friday said the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) Board has identified two assets in Bohol and Manila which will be developed and managed by the private sector.

In a statement emailed by the PPP to reporters on Friday, the TIEZA Board identified Balicasag Island Dive Resort in Bohol and the Club Intramuros Golf Course in Manila “to be developed and managed by a private sector partner (PSP) through a Joint Venture (JV).”

TIEZA approved joint-venture guidelines for private sector partnerships on Aug. 29.

The PPP said Balicasag Island Dive Resort, in Panglao, Bohol, has an estimated area of 1.5 hectares while the Club Intramuros Golf Course covers approximately 23 hectares.

TIEZA will be selecting the two projects’ private sector partners “through competitive selection,” the PPP Center said.

The PPP Center said it is now assisting TIEZA in preparing the selection and tender documents for the publication of the said projects.

Asked regarding the value of the projects, the bidding schedule, and the possible interested parties, PPP Center Director Jomel Anthony V. Gutierrez said via email Friday: “As of now, the details are not yet available because these are still under development.”

TIEZA JV guidelines stipulate that joint venture partners will be chosen via competitive selection, with investors responding to a solicited proposal from the agency.

They can also be chosen through a negotiated competitive challenge, whereby investors may propose a project for TIEZA-owned or controlled properties that will, in turn, be open to challenge by other parties.

The guidelines note that “the party that submitted the unsolicited proposal is accorded the right to outbid any superior offer given by a comparative private sector participant.”

TIEZA will form a Joint Venture Selection Committee to select and evaluate proposals. — Arjay L. Balinbin