The city’s Public-Private Partnership for the People – Selection Committee (P4-SC) recently finalized the thirty-four terms that will be subject to the prescribed negotiations with the SM Prime Holdings, the company that was given by the local government the Original Proponent Status (OPS), on the proposed development of the city public market
City Administrator Bonifacio dela Peña stated that the 45-day negotiation period will formally start once Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong will approve the 34 negotiation terms that was prepared to be able to push through with the long overdue development of the market for the city to have a modern market facility.
However, he clarified that the negotiation is just part of the 19-step process prescribed under the P4 ordinance that is why no award yet has been made by the city to SM for the market development project as the same has to undergo numerous processes.
Part of the terms that will be subject to negotiations with SM Prime Holdings include the land area that will be developed, the term of the lease agreement, the buildable area and building footprint, the conditions for the put up of the relocation sites among others.
According to him, the prescribed 45-day negotiation period could be extended depending on the advancements that will be done by the designated negotiators as the same will be focusing on the technical and financial aspects of the proposed market development.
Among those that actively participated in the crafting of the terms of reference that will be the subject of negotiations include the members of the P4 committee, consultants and volunteers who were able to provide important inputs that resulted to the formulation of the terms of reference for the multi-billion market development project.
The local government department head that if the negotiations will fail in one of the 34 terms of reference, then the whole process will be considered a failure and the local government will have to look for other modes on how to pursue the project that has been stalled for over 2 decades.
Dela Peña claimed that the final terms of reference of the project was transmitted to the City Mayor’s Office for approval so that the ongoing process could proceed to the negotiation stage where both parties will be able to present their respective positions on each of the items for them to agree on what will be the suitable terms for the realization of the desired development of the city public market.
He stipulated that the local government will continue engaging the different associations of market vendors to inculcate into their minds that they will not be displaced when the project will be implemented through the private-public partnership.
After the agreements that will be reached between both parties during the negotiation stage, the terms of reference will then be subjected to the Swiss challenge, one of the processes outlined under the P4 ordinance, where interested companies wanting to challenge the original proponent will have a chance to submit better offers but the proponent will have the chance to match the aforesaid offer.
By Dexter A. See
