BEFORE 2025 ended, PSALM president Dennis dela Serna revealed that two private sector entities are vying for the rehabilitation of the Agus Hydroelectric Power Plants with plans to restore the facility to its full 1,000-megawatt capacity, through the public-private partnership scheme.
He added that while PSALM normally conducts competitive bidding, unsolicited proposals are permitted under the PPP rules.
While dela Serna declined to name the two entities, he disclosed one is a consortium while the other is a single company.
He expressed optimism the winning concessionaire or bidder can restore the plant to full capacity and is able to sell the electricity, highlighting Agus’ potential boost to Mindanao’s power supply, which is now operating at less-than-ideal capacity.
The PSALM president said the rehabilitation of the Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex, which consists of seven run-of-river hydroelectric power plant, is on track for completion within the Marcos administration.
But dela Serna also stressed, under PPP timelines, there are 10 days to accept or reject a proposal, 90 days for evaluation, and another 90 to 150 days for negotiation.
This is where the proposals from the two entities get tricky as sources provided details regarding the two proposals.
They said the PPP Center, in Oct. 2025, had endorsed an unsolicited proposal for the modernization of the Agus-Pulangi Hydropower Complex.
That proposal entered formal evaluation in accordance with the PPP Code.
Yet only weeks later, the PPP Center endorsed a second unsolicited proposal covering the same Agus facilities—this time bundled with the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative, Inc. power distribution system. This endorsement appears to violate the PPP Code’s own rules.
The Implementing Rules allow only a ten-day window for similar unsolicited proposals. Both proposals involve Agus I and II and substantially the same rehabilitation and operational scope.
The second proposal was submitted well beyond this period and should have been returned to the proponent for participation in the comparative challenge process.
Treating the two proposals as “not similar” because of added components elevates form over substance.
Courts have long recognized that laws must be interpreted purposively, not mechanically.
Packaging cannot be used to bypass clear procedural safeguards.
Equally troubling is the inclusion of the Lasureco component, which lies outside PSALM’s ownership and statutory authority.
A PPP requires a government implementing agency with legal control over the project.
Stretching this definition risks undermining the integrity of the PPP framework itself.
This is why the PPP Center must act decisively.
The rehabilitation of the Agus Hydroelectric Power Plants is a matter of national importance.
It affects power reliability in Mindanao, electricity prices, and public confidence in how government handles major infrastructure projects.
Precisely because of its significance, the process governing Agus must be beyond reproach.
