MIAA junks P120-million navigation equipment purchase

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) scrapped yesterday the planned acquisition of the P120-million Very High Frequency Omni Directional Radio Range (VOR) after president-elect Benigno Aquino III hinted that the buying of the equipment might be “laced with corruption.”

“There’s only nine days left before the MIAA administration (officials) bow out (of service), what can you say about the proposal to buy a P120-million VOR,” a reporter asked Aquino who replied that corruption might be possible in a last-minute purchase.

The MIAA had earlier allotted a budget to buy a new navigational aid (navaid) to replace the VOR that bogged down last June 19 after the agency found that the VOR’s 15-year lifespan was about to end.

But director general Alfonso Cusi of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) was transferred from his former post as MIAA general manager to his present post, delaying the acquisition of the equipment.

His replacement, MIAA general manager Melvin Matibag, shelved the purchase of the VOR when it was criticized by certain sectors.

Matibag said the MIAA found a new VOR in Australia, which would cost between P90 to P120 million.

“This would have been a good acquisition because the price would include testing, calibration and service support agreement,” he said.

Matibag said the MIAA shopped around for a new VOR in Europe from Thales, the French radar manufacturer and Marconi, a British company, but they could not promise to deliver the equipment within two weeks.

South Korea, he added, also has a radar system available, but the MIAA did not pursue the acquisition after they found an Australian firm’s offer to be the most practical and expeditious.

“We were promised that they can deliver the VOR in two weeks and it might take another month to install the system due to some civil works like electrical connections,” Matibag said.

“It was imperative to buy the new navaid because it concerns the lives and safety of passengers,” he said.