NAIA rehab in danger

MANILA, Philippines —  The consortium of seven conglomerates seeking to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is facing a new headwind as the government again stated its intent to terminate the group’s proposal if no deal is finalized soon.

“Hopefully, before March 15 everything related to NAIA will be resolved. Either NAIA will continue with the improvements as proposed by the consortium of seven or we will terminate the agreement and make it available and open to other parties who are interested,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said in a recent forum.    

Tugade said in January that he may be forced to cancel the unsolicited proposal and offer it to parties that are ready to accept the government’s terms and conditions if a deal is not finalized.

“I have given them a deadline that if we do not come into an agreement before or on this deadline, I will terminate all negotiations. But then a new group has been organized headed by presidential adviser for flagship programs and projects  Vince Dizon and he was given a chance to negotiate,” he said.

The NAIA Consortium submitted two weeks ago its revised concession agreement after several meetings with the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) to reconcile various details of the project.

In a press briefing last week, transport officials said two issues raised by the government would still have to be addressed by the NAIA Consortium to advance its P102-billion rehabilitation proposal to the Swiss challenge phase.

Transportation Undersecretary for planning Ruben Reinoso said these issues involve the MIAA employees which could be laid off and the “people mover” system that would be used to link the passenger terminals.

MIAA expressed reservations on the consortium’s bus rapid transit system plan due to safety and security concerns it poses on the tarmac.

Reinoso said it was also earlier agreed upon by the consortium and the government that no one would be laid off as all MIAA employees would be absorbed if they want to, but it now appears that they would only be employed only for 180 days.

Reinoso said the consortium has already agreed that the real property tax (RPT) should not be deducted from its payment to the government, but it will still be up to the consortium to negotiate with the local government unit (LGU) .

Metro Pacific  Investments Corp. (MPIC) president and chief executive officer Jose Ma. Lim said earlier a key issue which needs to be addressed is on the RPT as it would have a significant impact on the consortium’s expected returns for the massive rehabilitation project.

Once the terms and conditions for the project are agreed upon, MIAA will have to submit the results of the negotiation to the NEDA Board and the negotiated draft concession agreement to the Office of the Solicitor General and the Department of Finance for comments within 10 days from receipt of the draft concession agreement.

The consortium of MPIC, Aboitiz InfraCapital, AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., and JG Summit Holdings Inc. holds the original proponent status for the project, which means it can match more competitive counter-proposals if any during a Swiss challenge.

The consortium’s unsolicited proposal secured the approval of the NEDA Board chaired by President Duterte in November last year.

Through the rehabilitation project, the consortium seeks to help alleviate the worsening air traffic congestion at the NAIA and solve its capacity constraint by undertaking various developments in three phases from 2021 to 2024.