The $10-billion Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) project appears to be in limbo after the provincial government of Cavite received no bids regardless of several extensions.
In a report of The Philippine STAR, Anna Mercene Pulmones, OIC of the provincial legal office, said they had to declare a failure of bidding, but Cavite’s PPP (Public-Private Partnership) selection committee will reconvene in November to decide on the future of the airport development.
Despite the fact that four companies such as the Metro Pacific Investments Corp., China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC), Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc., and Mosveldtt Law Office purchased the P1 million bid documents for SPIA, no one submitted bids for the project by the deadline of October 20.
Earlier this year, the province allowed its future partner to co-own reclaimed part of the project, however, it should be Filipino-majority owned and controlled.
The chosen partner should contract out or perform engineering, procurement, and construction services for the 1,500-hectare project and airport development components.
Moreover, they are responsible to provide the necessary equity investment and debt financing.
In 2019, CCCC and its partner Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia won the first bidding for the SPIA project because they were the only group to submit a bid, but the provincial government cancelled the bid award due to some issues.
Thumbnail photo by Merve Sensoy on Unsplash.
