By Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine
Star) | Updated February 12, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine
Reclamation Authority (PRA) is set to bid out the P54.5 billion reclamation
project along Manila Bay amid the joint venture entered into by the Pasay City
government and SM Land Inc.
PRA said in a statement, the Pasay
City government and SM Land have yet to submit the required validating opinion
from either the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Department of Interior and
Local Government (DILG) for the proposed project.
“An opinion from either of the two
agencies is not a regular requirement but was required otherwise due to the
numerous issues raised by other challengers on the bidding process conducted by
Pasay City,” the PRA said.
While the PRA acknowledges that it
received a project proposal from the City of Pasay to reclaim 300 hectares of
land, the PRA has not yet started its regular approval process as it first
exercised extraordinary diligence by requiring Pasay City to secure the
validating opinion.
“Assuming the DOJ or the DILG issues a
legal opinion in favor of Pasay City, only then shall the process commence,” it
added.
According to PRA, the proposal
submitted by the Pasay City government and SM Land would have to undergo the
five-stage approval process involving the technical evaluation by PRA and an
approval from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board
chaired by President Aquino.
President Aquino has issued EO 146
subjecting all reclamation projects including the 300-hectare Pasay City
reclamation project to a public bidding.
“If it gets through these two major
stages, the proposal will have to undergo a competitive bidding process to be
undertaken by the PRA,” the agency added.
It pointed out that the power to award
reclamation projects is lodged with the national government through the President
of the Philippines.
Severo Madrona Jr., chief legal
officer and vice chairman of the public private partnership – selection
committee (PPP-SC) of the Pasay City government, said the city government would
comply with the requirements of the PRA.
“We will comply with the requirements
imposed by PRA,” Madrona said in text message.
Last Dec. 23, the proposed joint
venture between the Pasay City government and SM Land for the P54.5 billion
reclamation project finally got the green light from the Pasay City Council.
____________________________________________________________
