SM, Robinson bid for Baguio market dev’t

FILE: Baguio City Hall (Photo by Patrick Roque/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

BAGUIO CITY – Retail giants SM Prime Holdings Inc. and Robinson’s Corporation are the remaining bidders for the city market which has been waiting development since 1995.

City administrator Bonifacio dela Peña said Wednesday the two companies are keen to develop the market which was supposed to be improved by Uniwide Sales and Realty Corporation.

The Uniwide contract has since been canceled to pave the way for the new bidding that may require PHP6 billion for the put up of a modern market through a private-public partnership (PPP) deal, dela Peña said.

A third bidder, the Baguio market cooperative has offered a lower bid ranging between PHP2.5 to PHP3 billion but has been disqualified due to the lack of legal papers.

“Although they were able to meet the deadline,” said dela Peña, who will present the whole concept with the city council during its session on June 29.

Dela Peña said while the cooperative lacks legal paper, it also proffered to base its income from the lease of tenants, most of them the present vendors which dela Pena said, in the long run, will not be enough to cover the development cost.

“Unlike the proposals of the two, kailan pa mababawi ang investment pag sa lease lang sila naka-depend (When can they recover the investment if they only depend on rent)?” dela Peña said.

SM and Robinsons have offered an amount ranging from PHP5 to PHP6 billion to put up a modern multi-level market.

Dela Peña said a PPP deal is the best option for the city to have a modernized market instead of developing it on its own by going into loans.

He said the proposal of the giant mall chains was evaluated by the Private-Public Partnership for the People (P4) selection committee, which he headed.

The winning bidder could yet be challenged by the losing party but is allowed to match the offer of the latter, dela Peña said.

He will also include the decision to go into a PPP that will put into consideration the welfare of the more than 4,000 vendors when it would be presented to the city council.