Airport workers want NAIA-3 contract scrapped

Aviation industry workers and labor groups said yesterday President Arroyo should not be drawn away from the real issue hounding the Terminal 3 project – that the contract between the government and PIATCO (Philippine International Air Terminals Co.) consortium is highly disadvantageous to the government, burdensome to the Filipino taxpayers and anti-labor.

Romy Sauler, spokesperson of the Scrap the PIATCO Deal Coalition (Scrap), said while they welcome the resignation of Transportation and Communications Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez, his action was merely symptomatic of a government deal that has become too unbearable for him to further defend, much more conceal its onerous provisions.

The group has been actively campaigning against the deal since last year, alleging that the exclusive operational rights given to PIATCO will mean loss of thousands of regular jobs as a result of closure of businesses in the airport.

"Even with former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Leandro Mendoza now at the helm of DOTC, there’s no stopping our fight to save our jobs and the Filipino taxpayers from further burden due to the illegal government guarantee to PIATCO," Sauler said.

The group said they expect Mendoza to immediately take action on the 28-point necessary revisions on the contract raised by Presidential Adviser on Strategic Projects Gloria Tan Climaco. The group stressed that Climaco should be made to appear before Congress and the Commission on Appointments (CA) to explain her findings.

Sauler said: "Better still, the Arroyo government should now enforce unilaterally the findings of Climaco inasmuch as PIATCO has been uncooperative and has not even responded to the matter. This is the right opportunity to rescind the contract, otherwise, this will only be another political baggage of President Arroyo during her second State of the Nation Address (SONA)."

Scrap also laughed off recent pronouncements of PIATCO executive Moises Tolentino that the new terminal is scheduled to operate by November, with or without Alvarez.

Ed Oredina, Scrap secretary general, said the coalition is now gearing up its forces nationwide for this imminent showdown as he challenged the PIATCO official to a public debate on the issue.

Recently, Nayong Pilipino employees have joined the coalition upon learning that they are the first batch to lose their jobs because the historic educational park would be converted into an access road for Terminal 3. Nayong Pilipino will be closed to the public on June 25 after more than three decades of service to tourists and students.