-
The Philippine Ports Authority awarded to Balbagon Arrastre Stevedoring and Porterage Services the terminal management contract for the clustered ports of Balbagon, Benoni, and Guinsiliban in Camiguin
-
BASPSI was the lone bidder
-
The 15-year port contract came with a concession fee of P272.502 million, higher than the minimum concession fee of P269.913 million
-
The contract covers cargo-handling, roll-on/roll-off, passenger, and other port-related services
Balbagon Arrastre Stevedoring and Porterage Services, Inc. (BASPSI) secured the port terminal management contract for the clustered ports of Balbagon, Benoni, and Guinsiliban in Camiguin.
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) awarded the 15-year contract to lone bidder BASPSI for a proposed concession fee of P272.502 million, higher than the minimum concession fee of P269.913 million for the duration of the concession.
The contract covers cargo-handling, roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro), passenger, and other port-related services. During the initial bid opening on October 2, 2023, BASPSI was also the lone bidder but its bid was declared “failed” by the Bids and Awards Committee. It passed during the second opening of bids on November 4, 2023.
The bidding was conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in PPA Administrative Order (AO) No. 12-2018, as amended.
AO 12-2018 provides the guidelines for selecting and awarding contracts under PPA’s Port Terminal Management Regulatory Framework (PTMRF), which outlines the authority’s rules for terminal management contracts.
PTMRF, provided under AO 03-2016, seeks to provide higher quality port service by promoting private sector participation. Under this framework, investments in ports are to be categorized into three tiers to make it easier to determine the investment arrangements of a port.
The clustered ports of Balbagon, Benoni, and Guinsiliban fall under Tier 3, where the contactor handles above-ground fixtures and mobile-handling equipment for a 15-year concession period.
This is the second port cluster awarded by PPA after the port cluster of Jagna, Tapal, Ubay, Talibon, and Getafe in Bohol. PPA is re-bidding the contract for the port cluster of Balingoan and Jasaan in Misamis Oriental.
READ: PPA awards Bohol clustered ports contract to JV
Under PPA AO No. 03-2023, the clustering of port terminal management at several ports maybe included to ensure commercial viability of the contractor. The clustering of ports for bidding will be within the same port management office and shall take into consideration the complementary ports/terminal sub-ports, as well as volume of vessels, cargoes, and passengers.
PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago earlier this year said they are looking at clustering of ports for bidding to stabilize the market of terminals in a particular area and make management of vessel traffic “flexible” in cases such as vessel queuing.
Balbagon port is on the eastern part of the municipality of Mambajao, Camiguin Island and caters to domestic vessels and handles rolling cargoes, bottled and general cargoes.
On the southern part of the municipality of Mahinog, Benoni port also caters to domestic vessels and handles rolling cargoes, fuel, bottled and general cargoes.
Guinsiliban port, located on the eastern part of the municipality of Guinsiliban, serves as one of the complementary ports to Balingoan port and an alternate port for Benoni port, especially for cargo vessels. It caters to domestic vessels and handles rolling cargoes, fuel, bottled and general cargoes.
PPA since 2020 has been bidding out port terminal management contracts under PTMRF. PPA has so far has bid out 20 ports. Of these, one is under Tier 1 (Iloilo Commercial Port Complex), one port was under Tier 2 (Davao), while 18 ports under Tier 3 and these include Puerto Princesa, Ormoc, Tabaco, Legazpi, Zamboanga, Iligan, Ozamiz, Calapan, Tacloban, Nasipit, Matnog, Fort San Pedro, Pulupandan, Surigao, Masao, Tagbilaran, Pagadian, and Pasig River ports.
