News
After PHP 20 billion typo, San Miguel gets another chance at bidding for a highway
(PPP.gov.ph)
The typo of the century committed by San Miguel last year was a costly one: It disqualified the company from the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) bidding, despite having reportedly bid almost twice the amount of the next nearest competitor.
Much has happened since then—San Miguel challenged the bidding after it was declared that Team Orion had the highest bid (Orion is tie-up between Aboitiz and Ayala) only for President Aquino to nullify the entire bidding process and schedule an entirely new bid. Team Orion refused to participate in the rebidding, but Manny Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Investment Corporation has joined the competition.
Now, more than a year later, the two companies have submitted bids for the project, this time set with a minimum price of PHP 20.1 billion, the amount that San Miguel was reported to have bid the first time around.
Bids are scheduled to be revealed on Tuesday, May 26.
Government officials from the bids and awards committee and DPWH have inspected the bids to make sure they are compliant with all the requirements, and presumably, to make sure no one screws up the dates this time around.
In case you’re wondering what the typo of the century was, someone over at San Miguel mixed up the dates on a bid security from the Australia and New Zealand Banking group. Instead of writing Nov. 29, 2014, the document showed Nov. 25, or four days short of the 180-day guarantee that was required.
May the best proofreader win.
