Vol. XXII, No. 95 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Friday, December 5, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
CEBU CITY — Cebu City has accepted an unsolicited proposal from Filinvest Land, Inc. to develop a portion of a prime property owned by the local government, and is inviting other investors to submit a better proposal.
Except for the Cebu provincial government, which has announced through newspaper reports its intention to challenge the Filinvest proposal, no other party has expressed interest, City Administrator Francisco Fernandez and Cebu Investment Promotions Center Managing Director Joel Mari S. Yu said in separate interviews.
"We did get a few inquiries, but they were just inquiries. Whether they are really interested in bidding remains to be seen," Mr. Yu said.
Mr. Fernandez, who heads the joint venture selection committee that evaluates unsolicited proposals to develop the South Road Properties, said they have been ready since Wednesday to entertain inquiries on the Filinvest proposal.
"The only interested party, and we don’t know if they’re serious, is the [Cebu] province, based on newspaper reports. We hope they will [submit a proposal]," Mr. Fernandez said. Cebu City Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña, who is on leave for health reasons, and Cebu Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia have been locked in a long-running dispute.
The invitation to pre-qualify and submit proposals will be published in three Cebu newspapers on Dec. 8 and 15. Interested parties can send their proposals to the joint venture selection committee until Jan. 15 next year.
The committee will complete the evaluation by Jan. 22 and issue the tender documents to eligible parties the following day.
Mr. Fernandez, who presented the Filinvest proposal before the city council on Tuesday, said they would have no choice but to evaluate the provincial government’s proposal, as long as it meets the deadline.
Whether a local government unit can challenge the Filinvest proposal and participate in the development of the South Road Properties is still the subject of debate.
Filinvest has proposed to develop 50 hectares, or a sixth of the 300-hectare South Road Properties. The developer will buy around 10 hectares of the public land and form a joint venture with the city government to develop 40 more hectares.
Filinvest plans to invest around P25 billion in hotels and retirement complexes, among others.
The South Road Properties, a brainchild of Mr. Osmeña, is a 300-hectare greenfield area that is envisioned to become the center-piece of the city’s development and the single biggest growth driver in Cebu.
It was reclaimed by the city with the assistance of the Japan Bank of International Cooperation, which extended a 12-billion yen loan through Land Bank of the Philippines.
The facility is registered as a special economic zone with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and was designed for mixed land use that can accommodate light manufacturing, commercial, tourism, information technology, and other service enterprises. — Marites S. Villamor
