Samsam wants Congress to step in on row between airport project bidders

Mactan Cebu International Airport

Cebu 1st district Rep. Gerald “Samsam” Gullas Jr. is calling for a congressional inquiry on the “unwarranted delay” on the bidding for the multi-billion peso Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) rehabilitation project.

Gullas last week filed a resolution asking the House committees on good government and transportation to conduct a joint inquiry on the status of the project.

His proposed resolution is separate from a similar initiative pushed by seven other Cebu congressional representatives who several weeks ago also advanced a resolution urging the House committee on transportation to conduct an investigation on the airport rehabilitation project.

The earlier resolution was signed by Rep. Raul Del Mar and Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa of Cebu City’s north and south districts, Rep. Wilfredo Caminero (2nd District), Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia (3rd District), Rep. Benhur Salimbangon (4th District), Rep. Joseph “Ace” Durano (5th District) and Rep. Aileen Radaza of the lone district of Lapu-Lapu City.

“We want the holdup resolved right away, so that the national government may finally receive the multi-billion peso payment for the right to perform the project,” Gullas said in proposed House Resolution 863.

Gullas said the P17.5 billion which the government will receive once the project is awarded to the winning bidder would “go a long way in supporting vital social programs” and is stalled due to the delay in the bidding process.

“The payment is on top of the billions of pesos that the final project awardee is anticipated to spend in order to build a new world-class international terminal capable of handling eight million passengers every year; enlarge and modernize the existing terminal, which will be converted into a completely domestic passengers-only station; and install all the required equipment,” he said in a press statement.

In the Gullas resolution, the House will zero in on “complaints of conflict of interest and questionable financial capacity and other possible violations on qualification requirements against the highest financial bidder in the bidding of the MCIA Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project.”

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, who is a member of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) Board, was still on an official visit to Japan and could not be immediately reached to comment on the issue.

The bidding committee opened and reviewed bidding documents which includes the design and the bidding amount last December 12 with the Megawide-GMR consortium giving the highest bid of P14.4 billion which is P400 million higher than the second-highest bidder, Filinvest-Singapore Changi Group.

The winning bidder was supposed to be announced last January 5. However, it was stalled due to complaints from Filinvest Group which raised issues on the unsatisfactory performance record of Megawide Construction Corp. and its Indian partner, GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

Filinvest also cited Megawide’s alleged financial difficulties and GMR’s unclear long-term commitment to the project.

Filinvest also cried foul over GMR and another bidder Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) who according to them worked together in all of the latter’s airport affiliates.

They noted that the bidding rules provide that a “board member or partner of a bidder consortium member or its affiliates is prohibited from being directly involved in any capacity in the MCIA bid process for another bidder, consortium member or its affiliates.”

The complaint prompted the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to further delay the awarding of the bid due to alleged violation of the rule against conflict of interest.

DELAYED BENEFITS

According to Gullas, the delay on the bidding has also stalled the benefits of the project in the tourism and transportation industry as well as thousands of jobs for the province’s skilled workers.

“We wish for the project to be carried out as soon as possible, as we are counting on it to help propel Cebu’s economic and jobs growth in a big way in the months ahead,” Gullas said.

“Immediately, we see the project generating thousands of construction-related jobs that will directly benefit low-income households in Cebu. Once completed, we are also very hopeful that the bigger terminals will permanently employ more Cebuanos,” he added.

The MCIA expansion involves the construction of a world-class international passenger terminal with a capacity of eight million passengers.

When the new terminal is completed, the existing terminal which caters to both domestic and international passengers will be used as a domestic passenger terminal.