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Marcos admin eyeing amendment to ‘right-to-challenge’ process for unsolicited projects


The Marcos administration is pushing for amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, such as changing the right-to-match or “Swiss challenge” process for unsolicited proposals in a bid to attract more public-private partnership projects.
 
“We will improve the unsolicited proposal system, allowing more unsolicited proposals for priority projects,” Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral said during the Transport Con in Pasay City on Wednesday.
  
The process of challenging the original proponent is called “Swiss challenge,” which is a type of bidding process in which a government agency invites or gives rights to other parties to match or better an unsolicited proposal it receives.
 
“We are looking at revising the right-to-match process,” Cabral said.
 
This includes amending the 60-day challenge period for unsolicited proposals.
 
“The 60-day challenge period is too short for a big, complex project but too long for small projects,” the DPWH official said.
 
Cabral said that for big-ticket projects, the government is looking at extending the challenge period to 180 days and reducing it to 30 days for small or simple projects.

"Small, simple PPP projects [are] local government projects such as public markets, bus terminals,” she said.

The DPWH official said lengthening the challenge period for big-ticket proposals will “address the complexity of big-ticket projects [and] ensure a level playing field.”
 
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier encouraged the private sector to participate in a total of 74 PPP projects worth P2.25 trillion. — VBL, GMA Integrated News

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