By Krista A. M. Montealegre,
National Correspondent

TEN LOCAL and foreign entities have expressed interest in the new P12.55-billion Clark International Airport Terminal.

Bases Conversion and Development Authority President Vivencio B. Dizon told reporters last Friday local firms Megawide Construction Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. as well as South Korean company Posco were among those that bought bid documents for the engineering, procurement and construction of Clark International Airport facilities.

“Alam ko parang (I know about) 10 as of today,” Mr. Dizon said, noting that more companies are expected to buy bid documents until the October deadline.

“You can buy bid documents until bid submission in October. Dadami pa talaga ’yan (That will surely increase).”

The project will be awarded by the end of November with groundbreaking set in December 2017, Mr. Dizon said. Operation is expected to start on the first quarter of 2020.

Clark International Airport is located in the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone, around two to three hours away from Metro Manila. The new terminal will consist of an 82,600-square meter terminal building that can accommodate eight million passengers annually — almost twice the terminal’s current capacity of 4.2 million passengers.

Clark airport is being tapped by the government to be an alternative gateway in order to decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which accommodated over 39.5 million passengers in 2016, way above its capacity of 30.5 million.

The government will be in charge of building the facility, after which it will be turned over to the private sector for maintenance and operation.

“The O&M (operations and maintenance) contract is another competitive process. We’re doing everything in parallel. Once we finish the pre-bid conference, we’ll start the competitive process for the O&M,” Mr. Dizon said.

The pre-bid conference is scheduled on Tuesday, 9 a.m., at the Mind Museum in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

A number of firms submitted unsolicited proposals to develop Clark before the government decided to undertake the development of the airport.

Among the companies that submitted proposals were Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Megawide Construction Corp. with its partner, Bangalore-based airport operator GMR Infrastructure Ltd., the Gotianun-led Filinvest group and JG Summit Holdings, Inc.

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter

NESTLÉ Philippines, Inc. is looking to export processed malt to other countries once the company opens its new facility in Batangas by the end of the year.

The food and beverage giant is currently constructing a P2-billion facility in Lipa, Batangas that will process cassava and barley to create proto-malt, the chief ingredient in Nestlé’s Milo brand.

The plant’s total capacity is at around 35,000 metric tons (MT) of malt annually, more than the 25,000 MT needed for local Milo production.

“We’re opening, inaugurating a malt plant in Lipa that manufactures the main ingredient of Milo, which is protomalt… I think that will have (excess) for export,” said Ernesto S. Mascenon, Nestlé Philippines senior vice-president and head of corporate affairs, in an interview.

He estimated the excess at 25,000, which may be for export to Singapore, Malaysia and Africa, which he described as “big Milo markets.”

The completion of the malt plant in the country will make it the group’s fourth in the world, after Singapore, Nigeria and Australia.

“Normally we import that from Singapore but now since we’re opening it here, we’ll be buying local cassava,” Mr. Mascenon said, noting that Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol is “very happy” with the investment.

The company has also tapped the agriculture department to help source around 70,000 MT of cassava annually for the facility.

“The problem with the Philippines [is] there’s no cassava processor that can make it into powder that can meet the quality standards of Nestlé. So right now what we’re doing is we’re lining up the suppliers. We’re helping them, advising them now to meet the quality standards,” Mr. Mascenon said.

With the two-hectare facility slated to be highly automated, Nestlé would be needing only around 23 operators and technicians to work inside the plant. The malt factory will be the third facility inside the 29-hectare Lipa factory complex, the first two of which manufacture Milo and Breakfast Cereals.

Asked on why the firm decided to put up the facility in the Philippines, Mr. Mascenon cited the big supply of cassava in the country.

In 2016 alone, local cassava output amounted to 2.755 million MT, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The Philippines is the second largest Milo market in the world, according to the company’s Web site. 

NORKIS TRADING Co., Inc. won a P285.93-million refund at the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) after the court denied the claim by the Bureau of Internal Revenue that the Mandaue City-based motorcycle company committed under-declaration of taxable income.

The CTA’s Second Division, in a decision dated Aug. 16, 2017, ordered the refund of P285,927,070.68 to Norkis Trading and canceled the BIR’s assessment for an alleged deficiency income tax of the same amount for fiscal year 2006-2007.

The BIR alleged that there was “substantial under-declaration of taxable income” from Norkis Trading as the company did not declare an indemnity fee (compensation for damage or loss) worth $6 million or P290.88 million, which should be taxable.

Norkis Trading assailed the FInal Assessment Notice (FAN) dated April 10, 2014 before the tax court. It claimed that the BIR’s deficiency tax assessment has no factual basis since “there is no proof, not even prima facie, that it received indemnity fee.”

The petitioner argued the amount “does not constitute income because there is no gain or profit from the receipt of any proceeds arising from an indemnity agreement.”

Norkis Trading added: “The amounts that would have been received under the alleged Indemnity Agreement would have been meant to reimburse and recompense for damages and losses arising from the termination of the exclusive arrangements for the distribution of Yamaha motorcycles.”

In weighing in on the merits of the case, the court sided with the petitioner. It held: “Records indicate that respondent (BIR) failed to provide any evidence showing that petitioner received such amount as indemnity fee.”

The court pointed out that the BIR even requested the indemnity agreement between the petitioner and Yamaha Motors Co. Ltd on July 12, 2016, “but which was denied and expunged from the records by the Court.”

“Considering that respondent failed to prove that there was an Indemnity Agreement and/or that petitioner received the amount of $6,000,000 as indemnity fee, there is no proof to the alleged substantial under-declaration and/or commission of fraud in the present case,” the CTA added.

The 13-page decision was penned by Associate Justice Juanito C. Castañeda, Jr. Concurring are Associate Justices Caesa A. Casanova and Catherine T. Manahan. — Kristine Joy V. Patag