Gov’t to terminate talks with NAIA consortium if no deal is reached by end of April

MANILA, Philippines — The government will end talks with a consortium that submitted a proposal to upgrade, operate and maintain the aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport if both sides fail to strike a deal by end-April, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said Tuesday.

“Tumatagal na ‘yung usapan. Kaya nga sinabi ko gusto ko na lagyan ng cap,” Tugade told a press conference.

“Sabi ko by April 30 kung di pa tayo magkasundo-sundo, gagawin na namin ‘yung mga proyekto,” he said, adding that the Department of Transportation has the budget to rehabilitate NAIA.

The P102-billion makeover seeks to transform NAIA into a regional hub that will compete with Singapore’s Changi Airport and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The band of conglomerates, which has a combined capitalization of more than P2.2 trillion, is composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation, Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corporation, Filinvest Development Corporation, JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation.

In September last year, the NAIA consortium confirmed it has been granted the much sought-after original proponent status, or OPS, giving the group of tycoons the right to match the offers given by other bidders via a Swiss challenge.

But last December, Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Tamayo said the proposal remained at the Manila International Airport Authority-level since the OPS was awarded.

“There were still a lot of issues that were seen. It’s more of the project details like technical issues,” Tamayo said at the time without disclosing details.

Listed builder Megawide Construction Corp. and its Indian partner, GMR, has also submitted a $3-billion, 18-year unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate, operate and maintain NAIA.

Asked if the government would entertain other proposals should talks with the NAIA consortium collapse, Tugade replied: “I will cross that bridge when we get there.”

Calls on the government to fast-track the approval of offers from the private sector to build and operate more gateways outside the capital have taken on new urgency after a Chinese plane skidded onto the grass and blocked the NAIA runway in August 2018 which prompted the cancellation of around 165 international and local flights.

Seeing the deterioration of the Manila airport, the Duterte administration has been entertaining proposals to rehabilitate NAIA and build more provincial airports. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral