NAIA Consortium beats deadline, revised offer still under scrutiny

MANILA, Philippines — The super consortium of seven conglomerates seeking to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has managed to beat the deadline set by the Department of Transportation, but its offer continues to hang in the balance as it now undergoes scrutiny from the government.

Transportation Undersecretary for Planning Ruben Reinoso in a text message said the DOTr received the consortium’s revised proposal late Monday afternoon, a day before the deadline given by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.

The NAIA Consortium’s latest submission took into consideration the government's comments on the revised proposal submitted last Thursday.

Reinoso said the DOTr would still review the new offer before coming out with the decision.

“We’ll review its compliance with agreements and if compliant, endorse it to the NEDA,” Reinoso said.

“We just started the review and still do not know the extent of compliance. Besides, MIAA (Manila International Airport Authority) is conducting a parallel review,” he said.

Tugade said the NAIA Consortium’s final offer would be compared to the contract awarded last December to the North Luzon Airport consortium for the operations and maintenance of the Clark International Airport.

“We are now comparing the template with Clark with their final proposal. If it is in  parallel, then it's a go,” Tugade said in an interview Monday afternoon. 

The NAIA Consortium is composed of some of the country’s biggest conglomerates which are Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc., and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

The group has previously expressed eagerness to comply and even compromise to finalize its concession agreement with the government.

Tugade had set an April 30 deadline to the NAIA Consortium.

“The discussions have taken so long that is why I am saying that I want to put a cap. It cannot take forever that is why there needs to be a deadline. By April 30, if we do not arrive at a common ground then we will do the project on the DOTr-MIAA side,” he said.

The NAIA Consortium intends to pour in P102 billion to rehabilitate, upgrade, expand, operate, and maintain the aging NAIA.

The proposal involves expanding and interconnecting the existing terminals of NAIA, upgrading airside facilities, developing commercial facilities to increase airline and airport efficiencies, enhancing passenger comfort and experience, and elevating the status of NAIA as the country's premier international gateway.