A local think tank asked the Department of Transportation to proceed with its plan to undertake a competitive bidding for the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to protect the public interest.
“The public interest, particularly reasonable terminal fees, is as important as government revenue in public private partnerships such as airport operations. For context, the Manila International Airport Consortium’s revised unsolicited offer of $3.8 billion [P210 billion] is almost 50 percent higher than the DoTr’s recent pronouncement that NAIA’s rehabilitation will cost around P141 billion,” said Terry Ridon, Infrawatch PH convenor and former House transportation committee member.
“It is more than double the private consortium’s original unsolicited offer. In order to properly reflect the public interest in NAIA rehabilitation proceedings, the transport department should opt to proceed with a solicited bid and reject MIAC’s unsolicited proposal,” he said.
Ridon said allowing an unsolicited private proponent to revise its proposal is akin to a ‘fishing expedition’ on the real rehabilitation requirements of the country’s main international gateway.