MegaWide/GMR group meets the Cebu media

Last Wednesday we went to the Quest Hotel for that meeting with The Freeman editorial staff and Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) executives. Yesterday, we went to the Marriott Hotel to attend the presscon called by the Megawide/GMR consortium. As we wrote in yesterday's column, FDC did not really discuss the Mactan airport deal. They merely wanted to meet with The Freeman editorial staff because as they admitted, they have not been doing that even though FDC has many projects here in Cebu.

In the case of Megawide/GMR, they have no other businesses in Cebu except the Mactan airport deal, which they bid for P14.4 billion and outbid all the other interested parties. The Filinvest/Changi came second with a bid of P13.999 billion. However they have aggressively tried to unseat the Megawide/GMR group by coming up with issues that weren't raised during the bidding process. Naturally, we too wanted to know more about GMR.

It is for this reason why Sen. Serge Osmeña called for a Senate investigation last March 12th and a couple of days later publicly declared that he would sue Megawide/GMR if the Department of Transportation & Communications (DOTC) awarded the Mactan airport deal to them. What kind of evidence would Sen. Osmeña present to the courts against GMR? Or is he merely threatening to sue in order to bide for time and thus delay the project. But in the end, this is a grave disservice to the Cebuano people who have been hungry for infrastructure development in the years under Pres. Aquino.

In my book, Sen. Serge was unashamedly siding with the Filinvest/Changi group when he is supposed to be neutral when he was conducting that Senate investigation. He sounded more like the lawyers of FDC when he threatened to sue Megawide/GMR. If you ask me, the DOTC officials are in a "damn-if-you-do, damn-if-you-don't-situation."

If the DOTC awards the Mactan airport deal to Megawide/GMR, they could face a suit from Sen. Serge Osmeña. But all they need to do is prove that all their bid documents are in order and the case would be thrown out of court. On the other hand, if the DOTC cancels the award to Megawide/GMR, they would face a suit by this group, which would cost them their retirement benefits. I'm sure the DOTC officials are carefully weighing in their legal options. But in my book, the safer avenue is awarding it to the true winner of this bidding…to Megawide/GMR.

Yesterday's presscon was not really the first that the Megawide/GMR group held. A couple of weeks ago, we met them during the 888 News Forum. But yesterday was their road show and the Cebu media was present to hear what Mr. Andrew Acquaah-Harrison, deputy chief executive officer of Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport had to say about their winning the Mactan Cebu International Airport deal.

All I can say is that these guys know their business and above all listens to our suggestions. During the 888 News Forum I pressed upon the need for a second-runway for Mactan in order to assure the economic growth and development of Cebu well into the next 30 years. At that time, Mr. Harrison merely told me that a second runway wasn't required by the DOTC.

Well, yesterday, he gave the Cebu media his studies for this second runway and I was surprised that he made these studies based on my call for the need of a second runway. Megawide/GMR didn't just give a power point presentation, it gave everyone a brochure containing information regarding the company, its plans, and answers to allegations thrown at it.

Best of all, Megawide/GMR would immediately refurbish the old Mactan Terminal, which was a surprise to me and above all, they have a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program as part of their development. At this point, we can only wait with bated breath that at the end of March, the DOTC as promised would award this airport deal to the rightful winner so we can finally move forward into the future for Cebu.

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The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) is requesting submissions of nominations for the 6th RAFI Triennial Awards until May 31, 2014. This call has been extended from December 15, 2013. The reason why this submission was extended was due to the twin disasters, the Oct.15th earthquake that struck Bohol and Cebu and the Nov.8th super typhoon "Yolanda" where most people, especially non-government organizations (NGO), responded to help our beleaguered brethren. RAFI's Triennial Awards seeks to nominate and award exemplary individuals and organizations working in the Visayas and Mindanao because RAFI wants to recognize their selfless efforts and in so doing, they can be true examples of people helping other people. You can get your nomination forms through the RAFI website http://rafi.org.ph/event/nomination-form.

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