Philippines' Aquino says San Miguel can appeal road deal disqualification

MANILA - Philippine President Benigno Aquino has unexpectedly granted San Miguel Corp 30 days to appeal against its disqualification from bidding for a major road project, throwing the government's tender policy into disarray.

The company was barred last month from bidding for the Philippines' biggest public-private partnership deal to date - one worth an estimated 35.4 billion pesos (S$3.4 billion) - by a special committee of the Public Works department, which cited discrepancies in documents related to funding for the project.

In an order dated June 30 and seen by Reuters, the presidential palace directed San Miguel to submit its appeal straight to the office of President Benigno Aquino within 30 days.

The Public Works department disqualified San Miguel's bid although the conglomerate had offered 20.1 billion pesos for the toll road project, much more than the 11.7 billion peso bid from Ayala Corp and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.