Letter to editor from SMC?

Doesn’t the editorial “PPP dilemma” (6/17/2014) look more like a letter to the editor from San Miguel Corp.?

It is essentially a summary of the one-sided arguments of SMC against its disqualification from the Calax (Cavite-Laguna expressway) bid. But better than a summary because:

• An “alleged technical or ‘typographical’ error” at the start becomes definitive “petty technical questions” at the end.

• SMC’s claims of “what appear to be accommodations extended by the DPWH to other bidders in the past” are cited as proof that the Department of Public Works and Highways was not “a stickler for the bidding rules in previous PPP projects.”

• Ayala is presented as having breached bidding rules for Daang Hari as SMC did in respect of the bid rules for Calax, without any specifics on the breach by Ayala (which certainly complied with all the bid rules and was subject to the same rules as other bidders, including the rules allowing bidders to propose an alternative design for the greater convenience of the public).

• The bid disclosed by SMC is presented as the same as its “unopened bid” without any mention of the verification process that was undertaken.

—SOLOMON M. HERMOSURA, general counsel, Ayala Corp.