THE government will, as part of a long-term plan, eventually monetize the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) complex once the two international airports under construction—the Bulacan and Sangley airports—are operating, and see proceeds of ₱7 trillion from the 70-hectare prime lot.
Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista bared this during a forum that followed his speech before the Rotary Club of Manila at the Manila Polo Club on Thursday, where he expounded on the 8-point socioeconomic agenda of President Marcos Jr. that aims to reduce cost of doing business, bring about carbon neutrality, create jobs, improve mobility, and spur economic growth.
Bautista said at ₱1 million per square meter, the government can realize ₱7 trillion from the eventual sale of the Naia, but stressed that before that happens, the government needs to have the Bulacan and Sangley airports operating.
In the meantime, the government will start modernizing the old airport which is now congested. Bautista said that the airport only has a capacity of 32 million passengers but it has to come to terms with 60 million in passenger volume.
“It is difficult to solve congestion,” Bautista said, but the government will introduce new ways of tackling the problem, including expanding the immigration counters.
The DOTr, Bautista said, is trying to “improve the passenger experience” by expanding the terminal. One terminal that is set to open is one in the old Philippine Village Hotel, where another terminal can be put up, although there is a court issue that is yet to be resolved.
“Also, we are adding more immigration counters,” Bautista said and the government is now taking space now occupied by concessionaires for the planned improvements. In July, the 26 immigration counters were increased to 44. All the improvements are meant to induce comfort for the passengers. And this includes upgrading the air conditioning system.
Upfront payment
Last July 25, Bautista said the government will require the winning bidder for the multibillion-peso Naia redevelopment deal to make an upfront payment—initially pegged at ₱30 billion.
This premium payment, which is typical for public-private partnership (PPP) deals even during the past two administrations, was triggered by the demand for the project, Bautista had explained then.
“Investors have a huge opportunity to invest in the Manila airport, given that other countries have already upgraded their airports. With the volume of passengers, the Manila airport would be a good deal for them,” he said.
Bautista said, “Part of the terms of reference is a so-called upfront payment. We are still finalizing the amount, but we are initially looking at P30 billion,” he said.
He defended this provisional requirement by noting that the proponent of the unsolicited proposal called Naia Masterplan even offered as much as P55 billion just to snag the deal.
The proponent, the Manila International Airport Consortium (Miac), is composed of six of the Philippines’ largest conglomerates: Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Alliance Global – Infracorp Development Inc., Filinvest Development Corp., and JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp.
Its ₱267-billion, 25-year-concession proposal was placed in the back burner after the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) approved the P170-billion Naia Rehabilitation Project under a solicited scheme.
Meanwhile, at Thursday’s Rotary forum, Bautista said other projects in the pipeline include tackling the traffic situation as he cited a study that the cost of traffic to the economy is ₱1.277 trillion a year. Thus, new rail lines are being undertaken, and “shovel-ready” infra modernization thrusts are under way.
The DoTR projects include modernizing the Kalibo, Catbalogan, Laguindingan and Caticlan airports; and pushing forward the rail lines that include that in Mindanao. All the projects are meant to nudge the economy, especially with the post-Covid situation.