06 May 2013
With the approval of its board of directors, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation will again bid out Power Barges (PB) 101, 102, 103 and 104 in the second semester this year.
"After due consideration, the PSALM board has approved the privatization of the power barges through another round of public bidding that includes some changes in the terms of the sale," PSALM President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel R. Ledesma, Jr. said.
PSALM will sell PBs 101, 102 and 103 - all based in Iloilo Province in the Visayas region - as one package. These barges will not be required to be transferred to Mindanao, Mr. Ledesma disclosed.
"On the other hand, the buyer of PB 104, which will be sold as a separate package, will be required to operate the barge in Mindanao for at least five (5) years," Mr. Ledesma said.
It must be noted that under PSALM's previous bidding parameters, the three barges moored in the Visayas were required to be transferred and operated in Mindanao.
The board has also agreed to sell the power barges on an "as is, where is" basis, Mr. Ledesma said. "This means that no purchase request or purchase order will be attached to the sale agreement," he explained.
The first two rounds of bidding that PSALM held for the power barges were declared a failure after only one bidder participated in both exercises. In the first bidding held on 16 May 2012, only ACTA Power - a joint venture of Ayala Corporation's AC Energy Holdings and PHINMA's Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corporation - submitted an offer. In the second auction held on 17 August 2012, only Trans-Asia submitted a bid. Subsequent negotiations with Trans-Asia also failed.
"Having addressed the concerns of interested parties, we are positive that the new round of bidding for PBs 101, 102, 103 and 104 will be successful," Mr. Ledesma said.
Commissioned in 1981, PBs 101 and 102 are currently stationed at Bo. Obrero in Iloilo City. PBs 103 and 104, which began operating in 1985, are moored in Botongon, Estancia, Iloilo, and at the Holcim Compound, Ilang, Davao City, respectively.
Strategic Communications and Partnership Division |