The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) have extended the deadline to submit qualification documents for the Davao Sasa Port Modernization project from June 30 to July 29.

DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla stated in a bid bulletin:

"In order to give prospective bidders ample time to prepare their qualification documents, please be informed the deadline for the submission of qualification documents has been moved from June 30 to July 29."

In May this year, a total of five firms submitted their expressions of interest for the project. The firms are: San Miguel Corp. (SMC), Davao International Container Terminal Incorporated (DICT), Portek International Limited, Obrascon Huarte Lain (OHL) and Bollore.

The project is scheduled to be awarded by March 2016 and is expected to be operational by the end on 2019.

The preferred bidder will be responsible for the construction and modernization of the existing port including the new apron, linear quay, expansion of the back-up area, container yards, warehouses, and the installation of new equipment like seven gantry cranes and 13 rubber-tyred gantry. The dedicated container handling facilities will have an initial design capacity of 1,900 container ground slots to a minimum of 2,700 container ground slots. It will have an annual capacity of 1.2 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

The project will be developed on a design, build, finance, operate and maintenance (DBFOM) basis. The concession contract will have a period of 30 years.

The total project investment is estimated at P17.46 billion (US$386.3 million).

The Development Bank of the Philippines and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are acting as the transaction advisors to DOCT and the PPA for the two-stage bidding to be conducted in accordance with the build-operate-transfer (BOT) Law.