Piatco takes NAIA-3 case to international arbitration court

Lawyers of the Philippine International Air Terminals Co., (Piatco) formally submitted a request for arbitration before the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), asking the court to immediately resolve the dispute over the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3) project.

Piatco’s action was decided upon by its board of directors and all its stockholders, said lawyer Moises Tolentino, Piatco’s vice president for public affairs.

"The Philippine government continues to ignore (the) request for formal talks to resolve differences and adamantly maintains that the contracts in this build-operate-transfer (BOT) airport project are null and void," Tolentino told reporters at a press conference held at the Philippine Airport and Ground Services Inc.

Piatco named the government, acting through the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), as respondents.

The government was asked by the ICA to respond within 30 days from March 6, when the ICA acknowledged Piatco’s request.

The international court warned the government that under ICC rules, "it has the power to set the procedure in motion even in the absence of the answer."

Tolentino said the Philippine government’s decision effectively barred the private consortium that built the terminal at its own expense from operating it and recovering, with reasonable returns, its investments amounting to US$525 million.

Following ICC rules, Piatco sent the ICA secretariat in Paris a request for arbitration last March 4. The request was prepared by the law firm of Romulo Mabanta Sayoc & De los Angeles.

The ICA secretariat’s counsel in charge, Toshiki Enomoto, acknowledged the request in a letter dated March 6, 2003, a copy of which was received by Piatco a day later.

The request said that the government, aside from refusing to allow Piatco to operate the terminal and threatening to take over the operation of NAIA 3, is guilty of having MIAA renew contracts with service providers beyond the start of NAIA-3’s operations.

The consortium also said MIAA refused to schedule the transfer of the international operations of airlines to the new terminal and failed to annotate Piatco’s rights to use the land on which the terminal was built.

The government also failed to seasonably deliver to Piatco clean possession of the site on which the road connecting Terminals 2 and 3 will be built, the request said.

Piatco seeks to have the ICA declare their 25-year concession contract with the government, and its three supplements, valid and binding; and order the government to allow, facilitate and support Piatco’s operation of NAIA 3.

The consortium seeks to have the ICA declare that the government has breached its NAIA 3 contract with Piatco in bad faith, and must pay actual and exemplary damages – at 12 percent interest per annum on sums due to Piatco, costs pursuant to ICC rules –and other relief the ICA may find appropriate. – With AFP