RP favored anew in NAIA 3 case

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday welcomed the decision of the International Chamber of Commerce-International Court of Arbitration in Singapore favoring the Philippine government in the arbitration case against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) in connection with the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 contract.

The ICC decision complements the earlier decision of the arbitration in Washington which dismissed the complaint of Fraport AG, a German investor in NAIA 3, against the government.

With the new ruling in Singapore three days ago, the government has avoided the payment of close to $1.1 billion to the complainants.

“Now that it’s cleared, we can turn now to the DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications) to discuss how the operations at NAIA 3 (will be done),” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

Because of pending cases, the opening of the NAIA 3 had been delayed and limited to domestic flights.

Lacierda said the government would still have to see if Piatco and Fraport would take further action. He added he would have to look into the rules of procedure in arbitration.

“If it’s final and executory, then we welcome that. If that’s the case, the DOTC will now have a more direct hand in dealing with NAIA 3,” he said.

Lacierda said expanded NAIA 3 operations could boost the country’s tourism.

He also said the Arroyo administration should be given credit for the victory in the arbitration cases.

“I suppose they made a successful effort to defend the country from paying such a huge burden. I think credit should be given to international lawyers who handled it. The Philippine government also did a good job and should be credited for that,” he said.

Japanese firm Takenaka Corp. was the lead contractor hired by Piatco to build the terminal in 1998.

Piatco was the consortium that submitted a winning counter-bid to build the NAIA 3 against the unsolicited proposal of AEDC, a corporation then formed by five Chinese-Filipino tycoons.

In December 2004, the Supreme Court (SC) nullified the build-operate-transfer contract between Piatco and the government due to onerous amendments to the original contract.

On the strength of the SC ruling, the government took over the terminal and started expropriation proceedings that in turn led to Piatco and Fraport AG to file cases before local and international courts.

In December 2005, the SC issued a ruling ordering the government to pay Piatco just compensation if it wanted to take over the terminal.

The Manila International Airport Authority was scheduled to hold a soft opening of NAIA 3 on March 31, 2006 but that was cancelled when a portion of the ceiling collapsed.