PPA seeks operators for Ormoc, Puerto Princesa ports

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Puerto Princesa port | Photo from PPA Port Management Office of Puerto Princesa
  • The Philippine Ports Authority bidding out 15-year terminal management contracts for the ports of Ormoc and Puerto Princesa using new rules on contract selection
  • The minimum concession fees are P2.36 billion and P849.65 million for Puerto Princesa port and Ormoc port, respectively
  • Competitive bidding will be conducted using pass/fail criterion PPA Administrative Order No. 12-2018
Puerto Princesa port | Photo from PPA Port Management Office of Puerto Princesa

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is bidding out contracts to operate the ports of Ormoc and Puerto Princesa using its new rules on terminal management contracts.

In separate invitations to bid, PPA invited potential bidders to submit Letters of Intent for the public bidding on the management and operations of cargo-handling, passenger, roll-on/roll-off (RoRo), and other port-related services at Puerto Princesa port in Palawan and Ormoc port in Leyte.

The contract for both ports will be for 15 years each with a minimum concession fee of P2.36 billion for Puerto Princesa port and P849.65 million for Ormoc port. Bids below the minimum concession will be automatically rejected.

The project involves arrastre and stevedoring services, bagging services, container terminal management, passenger terminal management, porterage services, Ro-Ro cargo services, storage management, waste and shore reception facility management, water distribution services, weighbridge facility, and ancillary and other related services.

Bidders should have experience in cargo handling, passenger terminal building (PTB) operations, and Ro-Ro operations for at least two years.

Open competitive bidding will be conducted using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion specified in PPA Administrative Order (AO) No. 12-2018, as amended.

READ: PPA bares guidelines for awarding of port management contracts

AO 12-2018 provides guidelines for selecting and awarding contracts under PPA’s Port Terminal Management Regulatory Framework (PTMRF), which outlines new rules for terminal management contracts.

The guideline aims to ensure port services to be provided meet global standards and the selection of port terminal management contracts competitive and transparent.

PTMRF, 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 six tiers, ranging from a fully private concession to a fully PPA-managed port, to make it easier to determine the investment arrangements of a port.

A pre-bid conference for Puerto Princesa port management will be held on November 11 and deadline of submission of bids will be on November 24, the same day the bids will be opened.

For the Ormoc port management, the pre-bid conference will be on November 12 and deadline of submission of bids is on November 25, the same day the bids will be opened.

In 2019, Puerto Princesa, the baseport of Palawan, handled 1.573 million metric tons (MT) of domestic and foreign cargoes and 81,568 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of domestic containers. In the first nine months of 2020, the port posted 1.27 million MT of domestic and foreign cargoes and 55,441 TEUs of domestic containers.

The baseport of Ormoc, meanwhile, recorded 441,251 MT of domestic Ro-Ro cargoes and 4,788 TEUs of containers in 2019. It handled 382,899 MT and 3,979 TEUs of domestic cargoes in the first nine months of 2020. – Roumina Pablo