PPA sets electronic terminal system rebidding for Oct 12

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A ticketing kiosk deployed at Batangas Port in September 2020 as part of the Philippine Ports Authority's test run for its unified ticketing system. Photo courtesy of the Department of Transportation.
  • The Philippine Ports Authority is rebidding its electronic terminal management system after failure of bidding in August
  • PPA will spend P500 million of its 2021 corporate budget to commission the ETMS supply, delivery, and installation
  • PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said the ETMS will fully digitize terminal management
  • It will streamline payment and collection of port fees (terminal and cargo/roll-on/roll-off) and harmonize this with PPA’s electronic payment system
  • A pre-bid conference will be held on September 28, while submission of bids will be until October 12, the same day bids will be opened

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is rebidding its electronic terminal management system (ETMS) project that will feature unified electronic ticketing capabilities.

In an invitation to bid, PPA said it will spend P500 million of its 2021 corporate budget to commission the supply, delivery, and installation of an ETMS, inclusive of cloud-based unified electronic ticketing capabilities.

The project is a package solution to be implemented simultaneously and to consist of software, hardware, equipment, and peripherals. It includes system server for the PPA head office and 25 kiosks to be distributed, installed, and configured in PPA ports.

PPA last August declared the bidding for the ETMS a failure after its lone bidder was not able to provide some of the required specifications for certain equipment.

READ: PPA seeks bids for P500M terminal management system

PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago, in a press briefing on September 17, said the ETMS “will fully digitize terminal management operations…not only in the gateway ports… particularly in the NCR [National Capital Region], but this will be nationwide.”

He added implementation of the system will be “one big leap forward into… digitalization of our operations,” requiring less physical contact and manual intervention.

In a separate press briefing on September 13, Santiago said they aim to award the ETMS contract by October or November, and start implementation by the first quarter of next year.

The ETMS seeks to provide a regulatory platform and to institutionalize ways of doing business under the new normal through an online and real-time app that passengers, vessel operators, port service providers, and the ports authority can access “anytime and anywhere.”

It “will provide a digitized and systematized process of recording and simultaneous submission of passenger manifest, and vessel voyage information which can effectively be scaled and extended to support future phases of the terminal management process at the PPA port terminals,” PPA said.

The system’s objectives include strengthening security and safety standards by mitigating vessel overloading and by effectively controlling the flow of regulated goods and cargoes using PPA port facilities, and providing standard stakeholders’ registries, credentialing, licensing, and accreditation monitoring.

It also aims to streamline payment and collection of port fees (terminal and cargo/roll-on/roll-off) and harmonize this with PPA’s electronic payment system.

PPA in August 2019 announced a plan to implement an online ticketing system that would serve as a real-time system with a “single window” for processing on a single online portal all transactions needed to be done by the government, shipping companies, port terminal operators, passenger terminal building operators, and the general public.

It will comply with the International Maritime Organization’s mandatory requirement for electronic exchange of information on cargo, crew, and passengers as part of the revised Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic.

In November 2019, PPA issued Administrative Order (AO) No. 12-2019, which provides rules on the implementation of its Central Ticketing System (CTS), an online application procedure that would support an integrated vessel booking and payment system for roll-on/roll-off ports.

In September 2020, PPA tested its Unified Electronic Ticketing System, also known as CTS, at the port of Batangas and port of Calapan in Mindoro to prepare for the system’s planned full implementation in 2021. In November 2020, a public consultation was held with stakeholders ahead of AO 12-2019’s implementing rules and regulations.

The bidding for ETMS will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 revised implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

The services must be delivered within five years from final acceptance of all components of the project. Interested bidders should have completed, within five years from date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the project.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least 60% interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

A pre-bid conference will be held on September 28, while submission of bids will be until October 12, the same day the bids will be opened. – Roumina Pablo