SolGen: Manila Hotel-Fraport deal has not settled NAIA-3 legal issues

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) declared the government had yet to officially recognize the rights of Manila Hotel Corp. to operate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3).

Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo pointed out the government is not a party to the contract with Manila Hotel which recently bought the rights and interests of Fraport AG, the German partner of the Philippine International Air Terminal Co. (Piatco).

In a letter to Perfecto Yasay, the counsel for Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp. (AEDC), the company which also vied to operate the unfinished NAIA-3, Benipayo said the government is not privy to the details of the settlement or agreement signed between Manila Hotel Corp. and Fraport.

The Manila Hotel Corp. bought out the interests of the German firm in Piatco for $200 million to operate the airport terminal.

Benipayo denied reports the buyout had been approved by the government and other foreign partners of Piatco.

"Statements of support for an amicable settlement of the legal controversies surrounding NAIA-3 do not signify recognition by the government of the existence of any right by any private party to operate Terminal 3," Benipayo said.

Until the proper legal conditions and procedures are complied with, Benipayo pointed out the rights of Manila Hotel to operate the terminal under the terms of agreement cannot supersede the claim of the government.

Benipayo said the government is still the rightful owner and operator of the airport facility.

"Government denies any right on the part of Piatco to operate the terminal, not only in the two international arbitration cases that the undersigned is defending, but in all its public statements as well," Benipayo told Yasay.

On Sept. 1, Yasay informed Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza that AEDC "has perfected and vested legal right to operate the NAIA International Passenger Terminal 3."

"The buyout by Manila Hotel... indicates that the government, despite details from the office of the Executive Secretary, was well aware of the transaction," Yasay said.

"Our client views this with grave concern because the deal directly undermines its vested right to operate the NAIA-3, being the legitimate and unchallenged bidder of the project," he said.

Benipayo, however, emphasized the 1996 memorandum of understanding between the DOTC and AEDC that there was no statement of an existing obligation on the part of the government to recognize AEDC’s right to operate the terminal. — Jose Rodel Clapano