THE unremitting discussions of where to locate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) clone have been going on for almost 30 years now. Yet, seven months into the Duterte administration, Cabinet officials are still dithering whether it should be Sangley, Clark, Manila Bay, Subic, Bulacan, and God knows where.
Filipinos have a way of asking a question that expresses annoyance, disgust, impatience and couched in seemingly innocuous query but demanding immediate and credible answer:
“Ano ba talaga, kuya?” The closest equivalent of this is the catchphrase popular with Americans decades ago: “What’s the beef, bro?”
As early as 2014, during the budget hearing, Sen. Sergio R. Osmeña III recalled that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) saw the need for the government to construct a new airport as early as 1989, during the term of the late President Corazon C. Aquino, but nothing materialized through the years.
“And up to now, I don’t know where the new international airport will be,” an exasperated Osmeña said.
The debate now is whether to complete Clark as a hub for Luzon, or accept the offer of food- and-beverage conglomerate head Ramon S. Ang to build one in Bulacan. Also in consideration is the partnership of Henry Sy Sr. and Wilson Tieng to reclaim land in Manila Bay, adjacent to the former US Navy station in Sangley
Point, Cavite.
Among the other proponents for the public-private partnership (PPP) enterprise are Ayala Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., the Lucio Tan Group and Megawide Construction Corp.
PPP initiatives
THIS early, several private enterprises have cautioned the Duterte administration about the pitfalls of having private money finance a largely public enterprise.
The Board of Airline Representatives (BAR), whose members include the country’s three domestic carriers, as well as global giants like Delta Air Lines, Etihad and Singapore Airlines, outlined its concerns in a position paper to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
The paper, signed by Executive Director Samuel David and addressed to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, broadly outlined how airport privatization for a crucial gateway like the Naia had “significant effects”, and it was the government’s role to ensure that public and airport stakeholders were “protected”.
“The PPP [project] to operate and maintain airports, especially where a majority of tourists transit, can succeed only if the government exercises adequate regulatory powers in ensuring the interest of passengers, airlines, other airport stakeholders and the surrounding communities are protected,” the BAR said.
BAR position
THE BAR position paper was asking the Neda to look closer into three aspects.
First, it wanted the government to guarantee that controls were in place to prevent any “monopolistic” practices in terms of services being rendered to airlines or passengers by the eventual PPP deal winner.
Moreover, the board said airlines should be free to either “self-handle” airport operations or select their service provider as long as these comply with government-set guidelines. The aim is to ensure a level-playing field and free market rates to the airlines and the
traveling public.
The BAR said “concessionaires should be allowed to operate under equal terms, including their length of service, without one concessionaire being granted undue privileges at the expense of others.”
A final request made by the board was for the government to reserve authority to regulate prices for airport services, making sure these are “reasonable” to all stakeholders.
Tugade vs. Alvarez
THE Department of Transportation (Dotr) has yet to formally invite bidders for the P74.6-billion PPP contract to modernize and operate the Naia, considered the “crown jewel” of Philippine airports.
For all of DOTr’s planning, Arthur P. Tugade’s post as transportation secretary seems precarious, given that the Speaker of the House, Pantaleon D. Alvarez, wants him replaced. Also included are the various groups who want him ousted for his alleged link with gaming tycoon Jack Lam.
This once more makes the decision-making on the future site of the Naia duplicate uncertain.
In November Alvarez called for the dismissal of Tugade for delaying the bidding of multibillion-peso priority projects for these to be included in the emergency powers package pending in Congress.
At the same time, various groups have called for the resignation of Tugade for his alleged involvement with gaming tycoon Jack Lam and the continuing traffic woes. Tugade served as the head of Clark Development Corp. (CDC), while Lam had an online casino at Fontana Casino and Leisure Park in Clark, Pampanga.
Alvarez named the following undersecretaries as having conflicts of interest: Undersecretary for Railway Noel Kintanar and Undersecretary for Air Operations Robert Lim.
“With all these people at the DOTr, these undersecretaries who have their own vested interests, I am sure they will negotiate these contracts,” Alvarez said.
Dribble, dribble
KINTANAR was assistant vice president and executive director for Ayala Corp. before being appointed undersecretary while Lim was country manager for the International Air Transport Association.
Alvarez warned that these officials with background in the private sector may use their positions to negotiate contracts with companies they were formerly employed with.
Alvarez said Tugade was also “accountable for the inefficiencies of these people whom he appointed as undersecretaries.”
Alvarez accused the DOTr of “dribbling” projects, which could have been implemented immediately without the need for emergency powers. He cited the supply of drivers’ licenses and the mass rail transit supplies and services as examples.
Congress is mulling the grant of special powers to Tugade as traffic chief to solve the traffic crisis in the metropolitan areas of Manila, Cebu and Davao.
Besides giving Tugade a variety of powers to resolve the traffic crisis, a bill filed at the Lower House also seeks to require transport officials to take up mass transportation.
“The problem is not with Congress. We have asked the DOTr to show to us what they have accomplished so far and what their concrete plans are but they have not complied,” Alvarez said. “I am the principal author of that bill, but we cannot just give them blanket authority for the emergency powers they are seeking when we do not know what their plan is.”
Piatco project
MALACAÑANG defended Tugade by saying that President Duterte still has the trust and confidence in the embattled Cabinet member.
“Tugade, as a presidential appointee, enjoys the trust and confidence of the President. With barely a few months and he is really doing his best naman po,” Presidential Communications Office Assistant Secretary Ana Maria Paz Banaag said in an interview with state-run dzRB. “We acknowledge [there are] sectors who are calling for Secretary Tugade to resign but then, nakikita naman po natin, they are doing their best also at their end to solve the traffic problem and everything that has concerns about the DOTr.”
Alvarez himself was haunted by the ghost of a graft case involving conflict of interest.
According to a Newsbreak report, Alvarez was involved in the awarding of a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project awarded to Philippine International Air Terminals Co Inc. (Piatco). At that time, Alvarez was general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority. He headed the technical committee and was a member of the bidding committee for the BOT project to build the Naia-International Passenger Terminal 3.
Alvarez was accused of having financial interests in Wintrack Builders, the services of which Piatco engaged with in excavating the site of the terminal. Alvarez’s wife was an incorporator of Wintrack.
Alvarez claimed these charges were trumped up. The Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the case in 2001.