From shame to fame

Whispers and huffs and puffs of frustration and disappointment from losing bidders – coincidentally during a week dedicated to love and lovestruck lovers – made the rounds in the business grapevine but nothing could stop the inevitable. At the end of the work week, the government chose the best offer it received for the upgrade of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Thus, on Friday, two days after Valentine’s, the Marcos administration declared the San Miguel Corp.-led consortium as the winner of the 15-year contract to rehabilitate and run our country’s main gateway in what may probably be the biggest infrastructure project of Marcos 2.0.

It was, perhaps, to borrow a line from fictional mafia boss Vito Corleone, “an offer they cannot refuse” – minus the blood and gore, of course.

Tycoon Ramon Ang’s killer bid was exactly that, offering the government a generous 82.16 percent share of airport revenues, beating rival bidders. The second best offer of at least 75 percent came from the group of Lucio Co and Jeffrey Cheng, although they were disqualified. GMR Consortium submitted a 33.3 percent bid and the tycoons’ consortium, a 25.9 percent bid.

Fingers crossed, we’re now at the beginning of the end of the NAIA’s worst airport era.

Portfolio view

There was a bit of drama in the days leading up to the announcement because the schedule was pushed back by a day – to Feb. 16 instead of Feb. 15.

At that point, there was no telling yet what would happen and the bidders waited with bated breath.

RSA himself was chill and relaxed, even finding the time to fly to Balesin in Quezon to attend the renewal of vows of Heart Evangelista and Sen. Chiz Escudero on Feb. 15.

He was there for six hours before flying back to Manila just in time for the next day’s announcement.

Rival bidders were puzzled over SMC’s bid but at the end of the day, the bids and awards committee reviewed and approved it.

It’s also important to note that the gross revenues by which the 82.16 percent government share would be based do not include yet the passenger service charges or terminal fees. This is expected to go up as most privatization projects go – higher fees, better service.

But sources in the infrastructure industry also said RSA may have taken a portfolio view in coming up with his bid-to-win offer.

This means that he took into consideration the potential of SMC’s other businesses to earn from the NAIA modernization, such as more users for SMC’s Skyway and NAIA Expressway and potentially more businesses for SMC’s cement companies for any construction the NAIA upgrade will require.

This was in stark contrast to the bidding groups which took a stand-alone project view.

Big challenge

In any case, the SMC-led consortium is in for a big, big challenge and RSA knows it.

The good news is that if we look at SMC’s infrastructure track record, there are success stories. I’m a Skyway Stage 3 user and although there are choke points at the Quezon Avenue station plus the higher cost of toll, I prefer it than plying EDSA during rush hour.

As for the airport, it will be tough for sure because this isn’t just about coming up with a modern gateway. It’s also about dismantling money-making syndicates that operate inside.

RSA travels a lot and he loves airplanes and aviation. He is a licensed pilot and his engineer’s mind is trained to solve problems even before they come up.

Hopefully, with him at the helm, our airport’s journey from shame to fame, a line I borrowed from a senior citizen reader, has begun.

El Niño and food security

The El Niño phenomenon is expected to peak this month and its effect could persist until May.

Are we prepared enough? The STAR has reported that the Department of Agriculture (DA) is urging rice farmers to immediately replant palay soon after their harvest to mitigate the impact of El Niño on rice output.

The DA said this strategy, called Quick Turn Around (QTA), is one of the measures it is implementing to mitigate the impact of the dry spell on water resources to ensure continuous rice output, our agriculture beat reporter Jasper Arcalas said in his report.

It’s good that Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. is on top of the situation.

Hopefully, he will also focus on ensuring food security by having direct interaction with the farmers. This is how Rafael Salas did it during the time of Marcos Sr.

Sec. Laurel can heed the suggestions of agriculture experts from UP Los Baños, including Dr. Resty Collado, president of the UPLB College of Agriculture and Food Science Alumni Association.

Organizing a food security summit, Dr. Collado said, can help the top 30 rice-producing provinces in the country improve their production.

They need incentives as well, including seeds and fertilizers, small tractors and farm machinery, farm-to-market roads and rice mills.

One problem of the DA is organizational. There are too many plans and policies and some may not be feasible.

The key to addressing this, Dr. Collado said, is to work with the LGUs who are directly in contact with the farmers.

Our farmers, who day in and day out toil the earth with their sun-baked hands, after all, know best what they need to increase rice production.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.