Saturday, January 30, 2016

SC upholds award of Cebu airport deal to GMR-Megawide consortium

The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) to award the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) modernization project to the consortium of Megawide Construction Corp. (MCC) and India’s GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

In a recently released 39-page decision dated Jan. 13, the SC Third Division denied for lack of merit the April 2014 petition by Senator Sergio R. Osmeña III, a Cebuano, to stop the awarding of the contract. It also denied for lack of legal and factual bases the Business for Progress Movement’s October 2014 petition to halt the facility’s turnover.

In one of the last decisions penned by recently retired Associate Justice Martin S. Villarama, Jr., the high court held that there was no patent error or arbitrariness on the DoTC’s part for awarding the contract on April 4, 2014.

“There being no violation of any law, regulation or the bidding rules, nor any arbitrariness or unfairness committed by public respondents, the presumption of regularity of the bidding for the MCIA Project must stand,” the decision read.

The P17.52-billion project involves the airport’s operation, the renovation of the existing passenger terminal and the construction of a new one to service international flights.

After the GMR-Megawide consortium won the bidding by offering a P14.4-billion premium, various sectors questioned GMR’s financial capability in the aftermath of the Maldives government’s cancellation of a $500-million deal to upgrade the Malé international airport in 2012.
29/01/16 BusinessWorld Online
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