MALACAÑANG on Thursday urged the Philippine International Air Terminals Corp. (Piatco) to “move on” following its latest legal defeat over its claims against the Philippine government on the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government feels “vindicated” by the Singapore High Court’s affirmation of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ruling rejecting Piatco’s bid to claim a $565-million compensation from the Philippine government for revoking its contract to operate Naia 3.

Given its losses to the government in legal battles over the issue of compensation on Naia 3, Lacierda said Piatco “should just give up.”

“We’ve always maintained that our position is legitimate. We hope this would put closure in the case. We hope Piatco would refrain from filing any further cases, but we cannot read the minds of the Piatco people so we leave it up to them. As far as we’re concerned, this shows the legitimate position of our government,” he said.

Lacierda said the government is aware of Piatco’s position that it would exhaust all legal remedies to obtain
just compensation from the government, and that the government is prepared for another court battle, if necessary.

“Apparently, Piatco feels that it has a right to claim from the government. That’s one thing that they would insist, and that’s one thing that we are prepared to defend,” he said.

 “If they want to pursue, we can’t stop them and we will defend ourselves. But it’s about time for them to seize this continuous filing of cases against the Philippine government because we’ve proven our case and foreign courts have already upheld our position,” he said.

According to Lacierda, the Singapore High Court’s ruling “clearly shows the legitimate position of the government.”

“This is not a hometown position; this was rendered by a foreign court. So we welcome the development in the Singapore Tribunal,” he said.

Lacierda said the latest ruling on the Naia 3 case is a “vindication” for the Philippine government, whose image as an investment site had been tarnished by the case.

“Obviously, we feel vindicated. Like we promised that under this new administration, we’re going to level the playing field, that rules will be made clear to them and that all transactions should be at arm’s length,” he said.

He also said European investors who continue to be wary of the Philippines because of the experience of Fraport, the German investor in Piatco, must remember that the contract in question was signed during a past administration.

“I think it’s just a matter of informing them and clarifying to them that the Piatco contract was entered into under the previous administration, that we have a new administration but with very clear rules on transparency and accountability,” he said.

The Philippine government had won in cases filed by Piatco and Fraport against it at the ICC and the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, D.C., respectively.