Baguio’s version of PITX under review for competitive bidding

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — If a developer’s plans push through, Baguio commuters could soon be served by the city’s version of the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).

The City Council began a review this month of this prospective P1.190-billion public-private partnership (PPP) venture before it is put up for competitive bidding through a Swiss Challenge.

The proposed Baguio Intermodal Transport Terminal was introduced by PITX developer Megawide Constructions Corp. through an unsolicited proposal in 2019. It was one of many investment proposals that were pitched when Mayor Benjamin Magalong resumed Baguio’s redevelopment program.

READ: Many tourists take bus to Baguio amid traffic woes, says mayor

Megawide had offered to build and govern the intermodal terminal under a 40-year lease agreement following five years of negotiating the project’s terms of reference with Baguio’s PPP panel. But some councilors have indicated they preferred a shorter lease period.

If approved, the winning developer would construct a series of terraced buildings and bus passenger loading bays at a sprawling hillside property near the gateway to Benguet’s Tuba town center on the Palispis-Aspiras Highway, a segment of the Marcos Highway, which is one of the access routes to Baguio.

Airport-style

The buildings were designed to accommodate 300 to 400 provincial buses daily and would feature airport-styled passenger lounges and parking spaces for public utility jeeps, taxis, and private vehicles that would ferry passengers to Baguio destinations, said Miles Young, the Megawide business development manager overseeing the PPP proposal.

The terminal can operate within 5 hectares of a 10-ha lot it was allowed to develop at the Department of Agriculture’s Dairy Farm facility through a 50-year usufruct agreement, said City Administrator Bonifacio dela Peña. Should the council approve a 40-year lease within a 120-day time frame, the city would have 4 years remaining to operate at the usufruct area after the 40-year lease of the developer.

The terminal would generate a P2.2 billion revenue stream for Baguio and ownership of the Project and all its assets, estimated at P3.7 billion, shall be transferred to the City at the end of the agreement.

Young also confirmed a provision that was tackled at the negotiations, that lease payments are subject to daily ridership count. Councilors Betty Lourdes Tabanda and Peter Fianza, both lawyers, raised their objections to this possible arrangement.

Councilor Elmer Datuin also raised a potential backlash from Baguio residents, who have been taking the bus at the staging areas of seven bus lines along a portion of Governor Pack Road. Bus passengers would require a P180 taxi ride to the proposed intermodal terminal at Baguio’s outskirts, he said.