No rush in approving NAIA privatization, says Bautista

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr)  is establishing a technical working group (TWG) to look into the P100-billion proposal submitted by some of the country’s largest conglomerates to renovate and upgrade the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said in an interview with reporters that the body would evaluate the unsolicited proposal submitted by the Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC) last Thursday.

However, the DOTr chief made no assurance that MIAC’s offer would be approved anytime soon given the immensity of the project.

Bautista said MIAC transmitted two boxes of documents containing the details of the proposal.

“We have to study that. Not just because MIAC will invest P100 billion means it is a done deal. We may approve it, but we have to look at the project first,” Bautista said.

Bautista, a former airline executive, also expects other proponents to file their own proposal for the rehabilitation and upgrade of NAIA.

“We will expedite the procedure. I will assign a TWG to hasten the review of MIAC’s proposal. We should be expecting proposals (from other proponents) also,” he added.

The transport chief can guarantee that public-private partnerships (PPP) for regional airports would be awarded this year, but is hesitant to promise any timeline for the privatization of NAIA.

“These kinds of proposals, we welcome them, but we have to review them thoroughly so that the government can get the best benefit from them. Regional airports (will be awarded) possibly this year, but for NAIA we have to review this carefully and we should take our time,” Bautista said.

The DOTr said it would consult with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) before deciding on the fate of the proposal of MIAC.

The ADB provides technical consultancy to the DOTr in picking a concessionaire who will operate and maintain NAIA.

The proposal to rehabilitate NAIA was filed by MIAC made up of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. of the Ayala Group, Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp. of the Lucio Tan Group, Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global-Infracorp Development Inc., Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp., and Gokongwei-owned JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp.

MIAC, which also includes New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners, wants to double the passenger capacity of NAIA to 62.5 million per annum by 2028 from the current 31 million.