Romulo to decide on NAIA Terminal 3 opening

A four-man team composed of Malacañang senior officials headed by Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo will decide whether to push through with the soft opening of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on Dec. 15.

President Arroyo admitted that the scheduled opening is still being debated on by members of the Cabinet so she decided to let her Malacañang senior officials decide on the issue.

Aside from Romulo, other members of the team include chief presidential legal counsel Avelino "Nonong" Cruz, Presidential Management Staff Secretary Silvestre Afable, and chief of staff Rigoberto Tiglao.

The Dec. 15 opening was recommended by Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon, one of the key people the President has appointed to coordinate with the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) for the planned opening.

However, there are certain legal and technical implications that should be ironed out before the opening.

"That is why among the four of them, two are lawyers, " she said.

Asked if she would grace the photo-op for the opening, the President firmly said: "I don’t think so. Everybody knows it will open. In other words, to me, as I said, photo opportunity is not to give me glory because you take my pictures everyday, anyway. I’d rather pose on a housing project than in an opening of an airport."

A controversial project of Piatco, Terminal 3 is currently being reviewed by a seven-man Cabinet committee because of the alleged "onerous" provisions in its contract.

The President disclosed that following the recommendation of this Cabinet Review Committee headed by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) secretary general Dante Canlas, a smaller Cabinet committee will re-negotiate the controversial Piatco contract.

Canlas, she said, recommended that this committee that will handle the re-negotiation with Piatco should be composed of Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez and Gordon.

"The DOTC Secretary wants to sit down for the re-negotiations only after the Senate Blue Ribbon committee shall have completed their investigation on the Piatco deal so that their report would be the inputs to be used by the DOJ in their legal opinion," Mrs. Arroyo said.

"So that’s the way we approach this to make the deal as transparent as possible," she said.

The committee of negotiators would proceed from the initial negotiation done by Presidential Adviser on Strategic Projects Gloria Tan-Climaco with the German Fraport AG on the proposed $400 million sale with no cash out from the government.

Meanwhile, labor groups hailed the scheduled opening of the new international air terminal saying it would ease the tight employment situation in Metro Manila.

The multi-sectoral Save NAIA 3 Coalition (SNC) said that aside from employment opportunities at the new facility, secondary employment opportunities will likewise be provided by business establishments taking advantage of support and ancillary needs of the ultra-modern terminal.

According to SNC, the new airport terminal, which was declared as a special economic zone, is also expected to attract industrial and commercial interests, especially those related to export and import transshipments.

The labor groups, however, lamented the seeming lack of coordination among government entities handling the soft opening.

"It would seem like a question of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing," said SNC secretary Joseph Demaano.