Move NAIA-3 full steam ahead

We had a very turbulent flight going to Los Angeles last May 30 when typhoon “Chedeng” thankfully changed course and spared the Philippines. By God’s blessings, we had an incident-free, 12-hour flight on board the Boeing 747 aircraft of Philippine Airlines (PAL). It was the onset of summer in the United States while we were there for about 10 days. In fact, the temperature in Las Vegas was hitting 94 degrees Fahrenheit when we left there over the weekend.

But I could not understand why in such good weather condition we had a shaky flight from Denver, Colorado to Las Vegas on board the Airbus 300 of United Airlines. I really had a scare of my life hanging tight on my seat while cruising a few minutes after takeoff. Perhaps, I later joked to my companions, the American pilot used to fly a fighter jet, as I surmised in the way he steered our plane. Pilots call such flight antics as “hot-dogging” to show off their flying prowess.

So when we had our flight back to Manila via Vancouver, I could not help but compare the smooth-flying techniques of our PAL pilots using the same French-made Airbus planes. Now I realize why most Filipinos and other passengers on board PAL flights would applaud once the plane lands and grinds to a halt. It is not about being happy to be back again in the Philippines but it’s also a demonstration of respect and appreciation to be flown back safely and as comfortable as we could be.

It was also a positive factor for PAL that it has the Centennial Airport, otherwise known as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2. At least, it has relatively new airport facilities that are far better than those provided in the old, original NAIA-1 although there are ongoing renovation and rehabilitation activities there to improve its services.

Last week, Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Alberto Lim announced the government’s bold projections on increased balikbayan arrivals in the next five years. The DOT secretary pinned his hopes on the impact of Presidential Proclamation 181 which declared 2011 to 2016 as “Homecoming Years for Pinoys” to attract overseas Filipinos from all over the world, majority of whom are in the United States, to visit the country.

It was good news of sorts when it was reported last week that President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has agreed to proceed with a plan to fully commercially operate the NAIA Terminal 3 while the final ruling on just compensation for its builders remains pending before the courts. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. was quoted as saying that the issue could still take a longer period to settle because of the legal options available to all parties concerned, including the Philippine government.

Ochoa disclosed that the government’s legal team has been preparing its next course of actions to comply with President Aquino’s desire to expedite the proceedings that would pave the way for the full commercial operations of NAIA-3 at the soonest possible time. This was after the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco), the major contractor of NAIA-3, elevated the expropriation proceedings to the Court of Appeals (CA). Earlier, the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 117 had ruled that the government should only pay Piatco some $175.78 million, which was a far cry from its claim of $842.80 million.

Long before the Pasay court handed down its ruling on the expropriation case, Ochoa had been quietly engaging in backroom talks with all parties involved in the Piatco-led consortium, including representatives of Fraport AG of Germany and Takenaka. “The point there is we can do anything now, we can proceed with the rehabilitation, renovation and the eventual operation on the NAIA-3 in the best way that we can manage to do that,” Ochoa pointed out.

The Aquino government had ruled out any compromise deal on the issue. Stating this government position, Ochoa reiterated that the Aquino administration would only adhere to just compensation. While they understand the sentiments of Fraport AG and the German government, Ochoa noted anew that the Piatco case is something that the Aquino administration inherited from the previous government. Ochoa admitted that it is only now that they have come to know the previous unknown factors in this case.

The entry into the Cabinet of former Sen. Mar Roxas II as the new Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) secretary could be the next best thing for NAIA-3.

Roxas used to be the Trade and Industry secretary of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when she decided to nullify and void the NAIA-3 contract with the Piatco-led consortium. Roxas, along with newly confirmed Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima (who also served once in the Arroyo Cabinet), had the inside track when Arroyo made this decision on the NAIA-3 contract.

The NAIA-3 is, in fact, under the jurisdiction of the DOTC. Roxas is set to assume the helm of the DOTC by June 30 when the resignation of erstwhile DOTC Secretary Jose de Jesus takes effect. With his wide experience in the bureaucracy, Roxas could bring all government agencies to come up with plans and programs so NAIA-3 could move full steam ahead and in synch with the “Homecoming Years for Pinoys” tourism flagship program of President Aquino.

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Erratum: There was a typo error in my June 6 column in the sentence: “To date, 44 percent of electricity all over Germany is sourced from solar power.” The figure should have been 4.4 percent, not 44 percent. My apologies.

By way of anecdote, a day after the Colorado Renewable Energy Conference that we attended at Marriott Hotel in Fort Collins where we were billeted during the three-day event, there was a computer glitch that caused a crash in the whole power grid. For almost five hours, there was a blackout in Fort Collins. Oh, well, at least, we don’t have a monopoly of blackouts in the Philippines.

The blackout came a day after we were taken to a tour of breweries that have shifted part of their power source from fossil fuel to wind energy. We toured the New Belgium and Odell breweries which produce their own beer brands. On both tours, we learned that the trade secret of their beers is in the water they use, sourced from the Colorado River. And as I’ve stated in my previous column, the same Colorado River is the source of Hoover Dam’s hydroelectric power as well as the flood control and irrigation system that serves the states of Nevada, Arizona, and California.

In the Philippines, we need such multi-purpose dams that can help bring about a cheaper source of electricity, a control flood system, and irrigation source for our agricultural lands. We have such rich sources of renewable energy in our country. What we lack is firm resolve to tap these sources of energy at the least cost to our people.