Palace to Germany: We want NAIA case resolved, too

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang assured the German government yesterday of the administration’s seriousness in having the issues surrounding the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 resolved soon.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) would study all the options available to finally settle the NAIA 3 ownership issue.

“There are different ways by which this issue can be resolved. It can be resolved through direct talks. It can be resolved by going back to arbitration. I’m not sure what the inclination right now of the legal team is,” Carandang said in a press briefing.

German Ambassador Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch said his government has also suffered immensely from the controversy because it has an investment in the NAIA 3 project. German firm Fraport AG was part of the consortium that built the facility.

“If we can find a solution to the Fraport issue that is acceptable to everybody then that’s all well and good. But then again… Whether or not the financial assistance comes, we want a resolution to the Fraport issue so that’s not going to be a factor for us,” Carandang said.

Carandang also stressed that “the Fraport issue will be resolved in the interest of the Philippine government and not the German government.”

Carandang said it would be up to the OSG to study whether negotiations could take place, considering that Fraport allegedly violated the anti-dummy and other laws in the Philippines to bag the NAIA 3 deal.

Carandang said the OSG would determine which of the two options – direct talks or expropriation proceedings – would best serve the interest of the Philippines.

The German ambassador said the unresolved expropriation case remains the biggest impediment to negotiations. He stressed that the Supreme Court had already ruled that no acts of ownership should be allowed until there was full payment or just compensation by the government to Philippine International Air Terminals Corp. and investors.

“As a way out of this impasse, I am still optimistic that the new administration, in line with its investment priorities, will bring the parties involved to the negotiating table in order to facilitate a legal, fair and timely solution for an inherited problem. It is time to look forward and do away with the ghosts of the past,” Weber-Lortsch said.

Sources earlier said the administration was seriously considering negotiations to settle the NAIA 3 issue once and for all, provided that the interests of the government and the people would not be compromised.

The World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes issued a decision on Dec. 23 allowing Fraport to initiate new proceedings against the Philippine government for just compensation.

In its Dec. 23 decision, ICSID, in effect, reversed its 2007 ruling that Fraport could not make any claim for compensation because it had violated the anti-dummy law in conducting business in the Philippines.