Two of Baguio’s biggest-ticket public private partnership (PPP) projects have finished undergoing the lengthy negotiation phase and are now due for approval, as of this week.
The Market Redevelopment Project by original proponent SM Prime Holdings and the Smart Urban Mobility Project by original proponent Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation completed the negotiation requirements and were issued certificates of successful negotiation last September 6 and 11, respectively.
This means that both projects are one step closer to full implementation, with the remaining significant steps being the approval of the City Council upon review, and the subsequent Swiss Challenge, where other competitors may attempt one final bid to gain control of the project.
The progression of the projects has been met with a mixed bag of reception by the populace, with concerns over expensive development costs being passed on to residents and consumers.
The market project has faced significant criticism over worries of SM-level rents for market vendors that would inevitably result in significantly raised product prices. While Mayor Benjamin Magalong has repeatedly assuaged fears of such happening, Baguio market vendors are banding together and looking to raise a total of P4 billion pesos to challenge SM Prime Holdings in the market development project and win back control over it.
Zosimo Abratique, former Baguio chapter president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and head of the Baguio Market Vendors Association (BAMARVA) said that each of the estimated 4,000 vendors are looking to raise P1 million each to come up with the P4 billion.
Abratique had pitched a vendor-led market redevelopment proposal in 2020 as head of BAMARVA after retail giants SM Prime and Robinsons Retail Holdings made separate unsolicited offers to replace Baguio’s historic but worn-down market.
BAMARVA had been knocked out of the running for the bid to modernize the market as the organization had supposedly failed to complete the required documentation, leading to SM gaining original proponent status, a move that has drawn pushback from vendors and residents alike over fears of increased rents and the displacement of vendors.
The Smart Urban Mobility Project also faced pushback over worries that the project would impose fees and costs on motorists, with a sticking point being the potential imposition of a congestion fee of up to 250 pesos on motorists plying the main arteries of the city.
According to MPTC Vice-President Mark De Leon, who shared the specifics of the SMP during the public consultation, the mobility charge or congestion fee is only one facet of the plan, which includes a centralized public transport system, smart parking integrated with a centralized operations center, traffic enforcement, apps, and the fee itself.
