Friday, December 04, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ BusinessWorld Online ]
BY JESSICA ANNE D. HERMOSA, Reporter
THE STATE agency in charge of privatizing military lots yesterday announced it was formally seeking a private sector partner to jointly develop a 34.5-hectare property north of Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.
A regular bidding process will be held, instead of a Swiss challenge wherein firms would have otherwise been invited to improve on the unsolicited proposal Ayala Land, Inc.’s (ALI) submitted earlier, officials of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said at a press briefing yesterday.
An ALI spokesman said the firm was still interested in participating in the auction, which according to the BCDA has attracted the interest of at least four other developers.
The lot will go for a floor price of P19,000 per square-meter or a total of P6.555 billion. It is a portion of the 93-hectare so-called JUSMAG (Joint United States Military Advisory Group) property along Lawton Avenue that is bounded by the Philippine Army headquarters, the American Battle Monument cemetery, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority and Forbes Park.
"Our board, considering the number of interested bidders, decided a bid is the most fair, transparent and competitive [way to dispose the lots]," BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Narciso L. Abaya said at the briefing.
The state agency also had the option of opening a Swiss challenge to ALI’s unsolicited proposal for the lots submitted in 2008. Under this route, ALI would have won the contract if it could match counterproposals from other firms.
The rest of the JUSMAG land cannot be auctioned off yet, as it is still occupied by military offices, including a segment whose ownership is being contested by the Navy Officers Village Association, Inc. at the Supreme Court, BCDA Vice-President Aileen R. Zosa said at the sidelines of the briefing.
Firms interested to bid will have to formally express their interest by Dec. 14. The contract is slated for awarding by March 2010, Mr. Abaya said.
Sought for comment, ALI spokesman Alfonso D. Reyes said in a phone interview yesterday: "We remain interested in the properties and we will participate in the bid."
"It is very close to the Bonifacio Global City, which is one of our major strategic areas and there’s already a good deal of positive movement in the area."
Four other developers are interested in the South Bonifacio lots, Mr. Abaya said, without elaborating.
Megaworld Corp., which bagged nearby lots in North Bonifacio from an earlier bidding, for its part said it was still studying whether to join the auction, its executive director Kingson U. Sian said in a chance interview.
Bidding proceeds of these North Bonifacio lots to Megaworld had boosted BCDA revenues this year, Ms. Zosa said.
The state agency drew in P5.544 billion in revenues for January-October, a figure Ms. Zosa said will likely represent the yearend total. If so, this will mean a 10.88% increase from the 2008 performance.
Revenues next year, however, are unlikely to surpass 2009’s as investors take on a wait-and-see attitude before and after the general elections in May, Mr. Abaya said.
Also expected for next year is the awarding of contract to privatize BCDA’s toll operations for the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.
The state agency said it has extended the deadline for the six bidders -- Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., Star Tollways Corp., Citra Group, San Miguel Corp., Amicus Holdings Inc., and IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd. -- to Jan. 4, 2010 instead of Dec. 4 to give firms more time to draft their proposals.
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