Philippines aims to award $2.6 billion road project before Aquino steps down

Rogelio Singson, public works and highways secretary, told ABS-CBN News Channel that bid-evaluation "should not be too difficult" for what is planned as one of the country's largest infrastructure projects.

The secretary said the bid submission date, which has been postponed twice, has been fixed as March 14. There will be a maximum of three bids, he said, as that's the number of consortia that pre-qualified for the public-private partnership (PPP) project.

The three groups are: San Miguel Corp , via its San Miguel Holdings Corp unit; Trident Infrastructure and Development Corp., also known as Team Trident composed of Ayala Land Inc , SM Prime Holdings Inc , Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc and Megaworld Corp ; and Alloy Pavi Hanshin LLEDP Consortium, comprising Malaysia’s MTD Group, South Korea's Hanshin Construction Co Ltd and the family of former Philippine Senator Manuel Villar Jr.

The Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project involves construction of a 47 kilometer (29.2 mile) expressway and a 45 kilometer dike that will mitigate flooding in communities along Laguna Lake.

Another part is the reclamation of around 700 hectares (1,730 acres) of land south of Manila.

Some bidders had sought more time to prepare offers, prompting the government to postpone the bidding several times.

"Among the issues that they raised was the timing as well as some concerns about government proclamation on the land that will be reclaimed," Singson said.

The proclamation is being worked out by the Office of the President and multiple concerned agencies, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, he said.

"What we're working out is to make sure that all of these documents are issued before March 14," Singson said.

Since launching the PPP program in 2010, the government has awarded nine projects worth 130 billion pesos.

(Reporting by Erik dela Cruz; Editing by Richard Borsuk)