By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter
SAN MIGUEL Holdings Corp. (SMHC), the infrastructure arm of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), is poised to secure the P8.01-billion contract for the Boracay bridge project after no competing bids were submitted, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“No other proposals came in by the deadline,” the DPWH communications team said in a Viber message to BusinessWorld over the weekend, citing information from the agency’s Office of Planning and Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
SMHC was granted original proponent status for the unsolicited project, which involves the financing, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a 2.54-kilometer bridge system — including a 1.14-kilometer limited-access bridge — that will connect Caticlan in Malay, Aklan to Boracay Island.
The proposed bridge will feature public transport access, pedestrian lanes, bikeways, and provisions for utility lines such as power, telecommunications, water supply, and sewerage, according to the PPP Center.
Under PPP rules, potential challengers were given 240 calendar days from the issuance of the comparative challenge documents on Feb. 20 to submit counterproposals, or until Oct. 18.
“If no other comparative proposal is determined to be better than that of the original proponent, the PPP contract shall be awarded to the original proponent,” the agency said in its instruction to comparative proponents.
The government and SMHC concluded negotiations for the project on July 19, 2024, while the proposal was approved on Jan. 24, in line with Republic Act No. 11966 or the PPP Code of the Philippines.
The DPWH said the bridge aims to provide all-weather and safe access between Boracay and Caticlan, improve disaster and emergency response, address solid and liquid waste management issues, and support the island’s tourism-driven economy.
Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on PPPs at Libra Konsult, Inc., said the bridge would improve access to the island but could alter its appeal to visitors.
“Building a bridge would make it closer and easier to reach, but it would diminish the ‘island excitement’ of the place,” he said in a Viber message. “Its separation from the mainland adds a sense of elegance and exclusivity.”
Separately, SMC is modernizing the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport in Caticlan through its unit Trans Aire Development Holdings Corp. Megawide Construction Corp. has been tapped to design and build the new passenger terminal building under the ongoing airport expansion.
