Full commercial operations of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 are expected to follow after the Philippine International Air Terminal Corp. (Piatco) formally withdrew its complaints against the government.
Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) General Manager Jose Angel Honrado on Thursday said the International Chamber of Commerce ruling in favor of the government has become final and executory.
The government’s victory came after nine years of a long-drawn legal battle with Piatco. In a manifestation filed on December 27, 2011, Piatco formally withdrew its second application to set aside the earlier ICC ruling dismissing Piatco’s claims against the government.
In February 2003, Piatco filed a request for arbitration before the ICC, where it sought to enforce its concession agreement with the government for the construction of Naia Terminal 3.
This was after the Supreme Court declared the agreement void from the start (ab initio) for having been “amended and re-stated” without the approval of the National Economic and Development Authority, Honrado said.
In its request for arbitration, Piatco sought to recover at least $565 million in damages from the government.
With Piatco’s withdrawal, the ICC finally granted the government more than $6 million in arbitration cost.
“This final ICC ruling, coupled with payment of just compensation in the expropriation case decided in our favor by the Regional Trial Court of Pasay City, will pave the way for the full commercial operations of the Naia Terminal 3,” Honrado said.
The completion work will now proceed, to the tune of P1.6 billion to P2 billion, so that the Naia 3 would be able to accommodate scores of airline companies presently occupying the aging Naia 1, he said.
“We have a working contract with the Japanese contractor Takenaka to continue the work, which would start first quarter of this year,” Honrado said.
He added, however, that if Takenaka fails to comply with existing contracts, the completion work would be open for bidding.
Terminal 3 is built on a 63.5-hectare lot on Villamor Air Base. The terminal building has a total floor area of 182,500 sq m, with a total length of 1.2 kilometers. A four-level shopping mall connects the terminal and parking buildings.
The parking building has a capacity of 2,000 cars while the outdoor parking area can hold 1,200 cars. The terminal is capable of servicing 33,000 passengers daily at peak or 6,000 passengers per hour.
Its apron area is 147,400 sq m and has 34 air bridges, 20 contact gates and can service 28 planes at any given time. The terminal has 70 flight information terminals, 314 display monitors, with 300 kilometers of fiber optic I.T. cabling. It also has 29 restroom blocks.
The departure area has five entrances all equipped with x-ray machines with the final security check having 18 x-ray machines. Its baggage claim has seven large baggage carousels, each with its own flight display monitor.
Naia 3’s full operations expected in 2013, is seen to help decongest the ageing Naia 1 so that the government’s expectations of 10 million tourists a year would be realized in 2016.
