Implement Piatco decision, GMA orders DOTC, DOJ

On to the next step.

Malacañang ordered Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza yesterday to come up with "legal and operational" measures that the government will take next to carry out President Arroyo’s policy decisions after the voiding of contracts with Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco).

Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo told The STAR yesterday that the Cabinet committee headed by Mendoza will be the one to recommend the government’s next set of actions after Mrs. Arroyo announced on Nov. 30 her policy decisions to declare null and void the five government contracts with Piatco involving the construction of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3).

Romulo said Mendoza will have to consult with lawyers of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) regarding the government’s next legal moves.

Also, since Mendoza heads the department in charge of the country’s airport facilities, Romulo said, he will have to study matters related to the "operational" measures the government will have to undertake to implement the President’s policy decisions on the Piatco contracts.

Romulo said the DOTC secretary’s committee is the recommendatory body that will decide the specific course of action the Arroyo administration will take on the Piatco deal.

The Mendoza committee earlier recommended the postponement of the scheduled soft launch of NAIA 3 on Dec. 15 – a recommendation subsequently approved.

"What happens next is for the DOTC and the DOJ to come up with what would be the next actions of the government in accordance with the President’s policy speech last Nov. 30," Romulo said.

"To carry out what the President has said, the DOTC would talk and consult with the DOJ on the legal steps to be taken in line with the fact that the Piatco contracts were declared null and void," the executive secretary added.

Romulo added that a four-man team of senior palace officials, including himself, must wait for the recommendations of the Mendoza committee.

While the Supreme Court hasn’t decided on the OSG’s pending petition to void the Piatco contracts, Romulo said the administration will abide by the DOJ-OSG legal opinion.

"Because they (DOJ-OSG) are the lawyers of the government, we would be guided by their legal opinion," Romulo said, adding that the President did not preempt the Supreme Court by declaring the Piatco contracts invalid, even as the High Tribunal has yet to resolve the pending petitions on the matter.

"We realize the Supreme Court has the final say on this, but, in the meantime, we will follow the DOJ-OSG legal opinion on this matter," Romulo said.

The executive secretary said the DOTC-led committee will also recommend criminal actions against certain individuals who may be behind the "gross irregularities" in the Piatco contracts.

Meanwhile, Piatco general manager Col. (ret.) Guillermo Cunanan told reporters at the weekly Ciudad Fernandina Forum in Greenhills, San Juan that Piatco "has no plans to file (an) impeachment case against the President."

Cunanan said Piatco spokesman and lawyer Moises Tolentino was expressing his personal opinion when he demanded that Congress initiate impeachment proceedings against Mrs. Arroyo for voiding the Piatco contracts. Tolentino’s statement, Cunanan said, does not reflect the stand of the company.

During the forum, representatives of airport employee groups expressed concern over the possible implementation of the Piatco contracts, which may affect aviation workers in the country’s premier international airport.

Workers’ representative Ed Oredina said the Piatco contracts have threatened the right of tenure of aviation workers affected by the contracts.

Cunanan, however, assured Oredina that aviation workers will be accommodated once Piatco takes over NAIA 3 if they will recognize the validity of Piatco’s contracts.

Oredina, for his part, belittled Piatco’s offer. According to Oredina, aviation workers affected by the Piatco contracts will have to undergo certain processes and still face the danger of not being absorbed into Piatco’s operations if they are overage or suffer from certain illnesses.

"It’s clear in your announcement that we have to undergo certain processes and only those who are qualified will be absorbed," Oredina told Cunanan.

Labor wants Canlas’ head

Meanwhile, organized labor groups are asking for the head of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Dante Canlas for his involvement in the controversial Piatco deal and what they dubbed Canlas’ "continued defiance of the President’s tariff review policy."

The National Federation of Labor (NFL), the National Confederation of Labor (NCL) and the convenors of the Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) urged the President to sack Canlas in the wake of her decision to void the Piatco deal.

NFL secretary general Ernesto Arellano said Mrs. Arroyo should fire Canlas for NEDA’s failure to protect government interests in several undertakings, including the Piatco contracts.

"NEDA has reviewed the Piatco contract and stamped its approval (of) the project even in the midst of many controversies regarding the contract," Arellano said. "Canlas even had the temerity to say that he had only read a few pages of the Piatco contract, but nonetheless, approved it."

NCL president Bayani Diwa said Canlas undermined the President’s tariff review policy. "He has consistently taken positions that are clearly contrary to the President’s tariff review policy.

"Canlas has betrayed the ideological position by continuing to defy the President’s policy of tariff review," Diwa said.

Meanwhile, Piatco cautioned the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) against its "overzealous desire to expropriate a privately funded facility" while the public awaits the decision of the SC on the matter.

MIAA general manager Edgardo Manda earlier said he was ready to take over the operations of NAIA 3 if he is instructed by Malacañang to do so.

"Manda was only confirming that government has not put its act together by citing the non-issuance of necessary certificates," which, the Piatco chairman said, clearly shows the government is out to sabotage NAIA 3 operations.

Cunanan also cited the conflicting positions taken by several government agencies on the Piatco project, including members of the House committee on transportation and the government corporate counsel.

The Save NAIA Coalition (SNC), meanwhile, took issue with the concerns of some sectors that the cost estimates of expenses for the construction of the terminal overshot the contracted $350 million. - With reports from Perseus Echeminada, Rey Arquiza