BUSINESSMAN and whistleblower Crisologo Saavedra joined the bandwagon in questioning the legitimacy of the contractor of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal.
He asked the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) to disqualify GMR-Megawide as one of the bidders for the P800-million replication project of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) facilities.
GMR-Megawide assumed management of the MCIA terminal last Nov. 1.
Speaking in behalf of A. Rivera Construction, Saavedra said GMR-Megawide has an advantage over the other bidders since the consortium is a “business partner” of SBAC after the firm recently took charge of airport terminal operations.
“We and other qualified contractors are left in the dark on the disadvantageous situation that will be created by the conflict of interest,” he said.
Saavedra said the SBAC should follow the concept of equal footing for all the bidders as required under the law.
“There has been a close business relationship between GMR-Megawide and MCIAA. The SBAC can be influenced to release confidential information, disqualify competitions favorable to GMR-Megawide in the bidding,” he said.
“We hope we are wrong. We are respectfully praying for a fair and justified decision to address our honorable objective and mission,” he added.
Megawide Construction Corp. earlier announced that it will bid for the replication project of the PGA facilities which will be affected by the airport expansion project.
GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. president Manuel Ferrer expressed concerns that if a different firm wins the bidding, the construction of the airport’s terminal 2 may be affected.
Last Monday, a group of businessman lodged a petition before the Supreme Court (SC), seeking to stop the consortium that bagged the multi-billion peso deal from taking over, rehabilitating, and expanding the airport.
The Business for Progress Movement, represented by its president Medardo Deacosta Jr., requested the High Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) as well as a writ of preliminary injunction so GMR-Megawide would not take control of the MCIA terminal management.
In its petition, the group said GMR-Megawide has no financial capacity to undertake the rehabilitation and expansion of the Cebu airport.
Last April 22, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) signed an agreement with GMR-Megawide for the construction of a new MCIA passenger terminal that will start in January 2015 to January 2018.
Under the concession agreement, GMR-Megawide consortium shall develop and expand the current passenger terminal.
The project is expected to be finished in 2019. The consortium’s winning bid for the project was P14.404 billion.
Sen. Serge Osmeña also filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition last April 3 asking the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order and/ or writ of preliminary injunction to stop DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya, the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) and the Pre-qualification Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) for the MCIA project from acting on the bid of GMR-Megawide Consortium.
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