THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) may grant within the next two weeks the original proponent status (OPS) to the consortium seeking to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said the department has already received the revised proposal from the so-called “super consortium,” composed of the country’s seven biggest conglomerates. Under the new proposal, the group reduced the concession period from 35 years to 15 years.
“We have received it (revised proposal). It was changed from 35 (years) to 15 (years). Is it acceptable? There are still discussions… Probably in two weeks (we’ll grant the original proponent status), if it were up to me,” he told reporters at the sidelines of a forum in Pasay City.
Once the consortium secures OPS status, its NAIA rehabilitation plan will be forwarded to the National Economic and Development Authority Board for approval. The project will then subjected to a Swiss challenge, which requires an invitation for other companies to make competing offers, while giving the original proponent the right to match them.
Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo confirmed earlier this week that the NAIA consortium submitted revisions to its proposal, including the concession period, project cost, and the removal of the third runway. He said the project will now cost around P105-P106 billion, from the previous P350 billion.
The NAIA consortium is composed of seven of the country’s top companies, namely: Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc.; AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.; Alliance Global Group, Inc.; Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp.; Filinvest Development Corp.; JG Summit Holdings, Inc.; and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
Under its original proposal, the consortium planned to build a third runway to ease passenger congestion at the NAIA. The country’s main gateway handled 42 million passengers last year, way beyond its designed capacity of 30.5 million people.
Competing against the NAIA consortium for the rehabilitation of the Manila airport is the tandem of Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructure Ltd. GMR-Megawide presented a $3-billion, 18-year plan nearly a month after DoTr received the first proposal.
MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Denise A. Valdez
