Who really wants to get NAIA?

We’ve all had unpleasant experiences, if not horrific tales about the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) – whether it’s a flight delay, snaking lines or getting stuck inside our planes upon arrival.

It’s no surprise that NAIA used to be one of the world’s worst airports. It’s a shame really, because the airport gives visitors the first glimpse of the country.

Yet, over the past several years, we’ve passed up real opportunities to transform NAIA into a world-class gateway. Even the super consortium of conglomerates gave up on the project, no thanks to restricting government conditions.

Now, Megawide is vying for the project, but this shot at progress is facing a major setback. Some are trying to get the NAIA deal away from the hands of the listed company chaired by Edgar Saavedra.

OPS revoked

Megawide was granted original proponent status to redevelop NAIA last July. However, last Friday, just five months after, the Manila International Airport Authority voted to revoke Megawide’s OPS, my sources said.

I wonder what happened. The noise against Megawide and its partner, Bangalore-based GMR, has been loud and persistent.

It’s a bold ambition to develop a congested airport but the Filipino-Indian tandem isn’t jumping into unknown territory. It has already proven its mettle – financially and technically – in running an airport through the multi-awarded Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

But they’ve found themselves at the receiving end of vicious attacks for months now in an almost macabre tale worthy of an edge-of-your seat Netflix series.

The plot is thick, the characters are intense, the script is detailed.  Who could be the villains in this story?

Who really wants NAIA?

The NAIA super consortium is a powerhouse cast, but it has already backed out of the airport deal,  citing difficulty in obtaining financing given COVID-19’s impact on air travel and the conditions set by the government. They probably wouldn’t care who gets NAIA.

Could it be other airport proponents who don’t want NAIA to modernize? There are at least three airports being developed in Luzon.

Or could it also be existing NAIA stakeholders who might be affected by the airport redevelopment?

Ground handlers, for instance, have billions of pesos worth of yearly contracts with the government and all this could change when NAIA’s management changes hands. The third on the list of entities vying for NAIA after the super consortium and Megawide is a ground handling group.

Or it could be a totally new player in the airport business – a street smart, successful and agile tycoon who really dreams of developing NAIA.

Only time will tell what will happen.

Crab mentality or competition?

Filipino crab mentality is showing. It seems those behind the issues raised against Megawide either want the project for themselves or don’t want NAIA to modernize. Or it’s simply competition at all costs and the competitor, taking a page out of Machiavelli’s playbook, probably believes that the end justifies the means.

Megawide has clarified the issues hurled against it, from supposed lack of financial capability to violations of the Anti-Dummy Laws.

When Inquirer’s Miguel Camus and I sat down with Megawide’s Saavedra and Louie Ferrer recently, they explained to us they could raise the money to finance the project as required by the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) Law.

The BOT’s guidelines state the “prospective project proponent must have adequate capability to sustain the financing requirements for the detailed engineering design, construction and/or operation and maintenance phases of the project.”

“We have no doubt that we will be able to sustain future expansion without issue despite qualification requirements having been based on initial development phases only,” Saavedra said.

When NEDA further imposed stricter requirements, Megawide complied by sharing 40 percent equity with its partner GMR, Ferrer said.

On the Anti-Dummy Law issue, Megawide denied that the Mactan-Cebu airport is run by foreigners. The airport has been operating for six years now. The company wonders why the issue was raised just now.

What would President Duterte say?

I wonder what President Duterte would say. I remember him saying during the inauguration of the Mactan Cebu Airport’s Terminal 2 two years ago that he does not care if Megawide – whom he recognized for its good track record – gets other airport deals as long as the company goes through the proper process.

Wouldn’t the Duterte administration want to have a modern NAIA as its legacy?  NAIA, after all, is the face of this administration’s much-trumpeted Build Build Build program.

If this does not happen now, when will we see NAIA modernize? I thought I would finally see NAIA transformed into a modern gateway by the super consortium. But they, too, even with all their powers, threw in the towel.

Now, the project is slipping away from Megawide’s hands as well but if it does, Megawide can simply continue with its existing projects and pursue other developments in the future as members of the super consortium are doing now.

However, at the end of the day, we still don’t have a world-class gateway that we deserve. When air travel normalizes, we will still have to endure the same congested NAIA that we have now.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com