ILOILO City – The city government has successfully negotiated with SM Prime Holdings for the proposed redevelopment of the city’s two biggest markets.
This was confirmed by Atty. Quintin Magsico Jr., vice chairman of the Iloilo City Public Private Partnership (PPP) – Selection Committee which spearheaded the detailed negotiation with SM Prime for the redevelopment of the Iloilo Central Market and Iloilo Terminal Market.
“After we accepted the unsolicited proposal, we proceeded to the detailed negotiation wherein all the issues were resolved. And after that, technically you have to issue a successful negotiation, which we did on June 22, 2022,” Magsico explained.
As one of the results also of the detailed negotiation, the proponent increased its offer.
The city government is now waiting for the approval of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) for two resolutions.
One is the resolution authorizing Mayor Jerry Treñas to enter into and sign a Lease Agreement with the prospective proponent having the best responsive proposal for the redevelopment of the two markets.
The second is the resolution approving the tender documents for the lease agreement for the redevelopment of the two markets and issuance of the same documents to interested bidders in the said project.
During a special session Friday last week, the city council referred these matters to the SP Committee on Engineering, Construction and Public Works and Committee on Markets, both chaired by Councilor Ely Estante for study, report and recommendation.
A committee hearing will be conducted today, June 27, and it will be up for approval during the regular session tomorrow.
Once the tender documents are approved, Magsico said, the proposal will be published in a newspaper of national circulation and will be open for a Swiss challenge.
A Swiss challenge is a form of competition which requires a public authority (usually an agency of government) which has received an unsolicited bid for a public project, or for services to be provided to government, to publish the bid and invite third parties to provide better proposals.
Those interested to challenge must signify their intention within 15 days after the second advertisement/publication.
STAKEHOLDERS’ MEETING
The city government on Friday held a stakeholders’ meeting with representatives of vendors’ associations of the central and terminal markets.
The city mayor, together with the members of the SP, the PPP Selection Committee and Local Economic Enterprise Office, among others, addressed the concerns and queries of the vendors.
One the vendors’ concerns is the possible competition between them and SM Savemore market.
During the discussion, it was clarified that they may co-exist, complement each other, and there could be no actual competition.
For one, the vendors’ products are cheaper and fresh, and they have different sets of clients.
Because of the would-be redevelopment, the markets will become clean, convenient and competitive, making them more attractive to local visitors and tourists.
Also, the bulk of customers of the public markets starts coming in as early 4 a.m. up to 8 a.m. while the mall starts at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m., thus, there is no direct competition.
It was also pointed out that later on, people renting the open spaces of SM would also become customers of the stall owners.
Treñas reiterated, too, that none of the legitimate market vendors will be displaced./PN
