Vol. XXI, No. 235 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
PENDING LEGAL issues will not prevent the opening of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3), officials yesterday said, even as the court has yet to decide how much the government should pay its builder, Philippine International Air Terminals Co., Inc. (Piatco).
In a chance interview before the arrival of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from her US trip, Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Alfonso G. Cusi said the government can operate the terminal as it had paid the P3 billion proffered to Piatco as ordered by the court.
"We are here to operate the terminal. We have had this [terminal] for so long already and we need it. We already paid the proffered amount. What amount is acceptable, the court has to decide that. We cannot keep this [NAIA-3] idle," he said.
Officials said NAIA-3, mothballed for years due to legal controversies, will be open for domestic flights in two to three weeks. It is expected to serve international flights in six to nine months.
Michael T. Defensor, head of Task Force NAIA-3, said the government can start operations of the terminal as long as it does not perform "acts of ownership."
"It is a complicated legal situation but the bottom line is there should be no acts of ownership. It was not defined by court. As of now, we have not violated any order of the court and we don’t plan to violate any. The order is vague. It said we can do whatever for the opening and we are doing that now," he said.
The building of NAIA-3, designed to handle 13 million passengers per year, was awarded to Piatco in 1997. But in May 2002, the Supreme Court voided Piatco’s contract, saying it was tainted with irregularities. The government seized the facility in 2004. Piatco has claimed that the government owes it $565 million for taking over the facility.
In 2006, the government paid P3 billion in initial compensation to Piatco in exchange for the government authority over the 182,500-square meter terminal.
Stakeholders are still awaiting the final valuation of the NAIA-3, which is being appraised by DG Jones and Partners.
Mrs. Arroyo yesterday returned after a week-long trip to the US and was one of the first passengers to use the terminal. She arrived at 2:40 a.m. with around 400 other passengers of Philippine Airlines flight PR 105 from San Francisco, California. — Alexis Douglas B. Romero
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