AEDC offers anew to help resolve NAIA-3 mess

A firm controlled by taipan Lucio Tan offered anew yesterday to help the government pay builders of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) on condition that it be given the concession to operate the terminal.

In a statement, former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp. (AEDC) lead counsel, said the company is willing to share with the government the profits from NAIA-3’s operation.

"We are actually trying to help the government from shelling out more money," he said.

Yasay said the deal will not only help pay the government’s obligations to the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco), but allow it to earn millions of dollars in revenues.

"If the government pays $565 million, they would be overpaying," he said.

"If they wait for the (Supreme Court) ruling which, in AEDC’s opinion, should be an estimate of only $200 million, then they will be saving a lot of money which can be used for other things such as infrastructure projects."

Yasay said if the governments award the NAIA-3 concession to AEDC, the Tan-backed company would pay Piatco the court-based assessment on the actual value of the terminal.

The AEDC would complete the construction of NAIA-3 and shoulder the cost of the "finalization" of the facility, he added.

Yasay said the deal would also give the government a "fighting chance" in the international court which would also mandate them to pay another P1 billion to Piatco. — Sandy Araneta