The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is gearing up to privatize operations at four ports across Romblon province, offering contracts worth over P660 million.
The agency is inviting bids for 15-year contracts to oversee cargo handling, passenger services, roll-on/roll-off operations, and other port-related services.
For the Tablas and Carmen port cluster, the minimum concession fee is set at P218.261 million, with an initial fee of P10.115 million for the first year. Meanwhile, for the Romblon and Ambulong port cluster, the minimum concession fee stands at P113.368 million, with a first-year fee of P5.254 million.
All concession fees mentioned are exclusive of taxes.
PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago earlier this year said that clustering of ports is a strategy to stabilize the terminal market in specific areas and ensure flexible vessel traffic management, particularly in addressing vessel queuing scenarios.
Interested bidders must demonstrate at least two years of experience in providing port terminal/cargo-handling services or related port services, as evidenced by completed and ongoing contracts.
The bidding process will adhere to open competitive bidding procedures outlined in PPA AO No. 12-2018, as amended, utilizing non-discretionary pass/fail criteria.
Since 2020, PPA has been bidding out port terminal management contracts under the Port Terminal Management Regulatory Framework.
Among these, one falls under Tier 1 (Iloilo Commercial Port Complex), one under Tier 2 (Davao), while the remaining 18 ports are categorized under Tier 3. These ports encompass a diverse range of locations, including Puerto Princesa, Ormoc, Tabaco, Legazpi, Zamboanga, Iligan, Ozamiz, Calapan, Tacloban, Nasipit, Matnog, Fort San Pedro, Pulupandan, Surigao, Masao, Tagbilaran, Pagadian, and the Pasig River ports.
