MAP backs NAIA privatization

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), a group of top management and business executives, expressed support on Thursday for the privatization of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

"The MAP underscores the need to place the rehabilitation and operations of NAIA under private sector management, given its demonstrated capability and extensive resources in undertaking big-ticket, complex public infrastructure projects," the group said.

"The MAP believes in the competitive advantage of the National Capital Region (NCR) and its central business districts (CBDs) having access to a nearby city airport, believing further that a robust economy with burgeoning air travel supports a multi-airport system for a large catchment, such as the NCR and its environs," it added.

The Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC)—composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Alliance Global-Infracorp Development Inc., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp., and US-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP)—has submitted a P267-billion unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate and develop the NAIA into a modernized gateway.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), meanwhile, submitted a joint proposal for the NAIA Public Private Partnership (PPP) project for approval by the NEDA Board.

The government’s solicited privatization bid seeks a 15-year concession period to operate the NAIA, while the MIAC’s proposal proposes a 25-year period.

"Privatization should be undertaken in an unassailable manner with full transparency, in accordance with best practices, existing laws and regulations [that] provide for both solicited and unsolicited competitive bidding processes, with the objective of yielding an expeditious process, time being of the essence, and contract terms and conditions in the best public interest," MAP said.

"The case for privatization is bolstered by the many constraints that have weighed down on our country's main air gateway, hampered in particular by tedious, inefficient, and ineffective government bureaucratic processes and fiscal constraints, compounded by a lack of management autonomy," it added.

The group said that administrative and operational constraints have detrimental effects, "manifested in the perennial cellar rating of NAIA among airports and the recent power outages that effectively paralyzed airport operations to the great detriment of air travelers, tourism, as well as trade and commerce."

MAP said that the NAIA privatization should include major upgrades of airport infrastructure, facilities, and processes, such as airside and landside, to include its runway, expanding aircraft movements and passenger throughput capacity, and enhancing operating and maintenance processes through the introduction of modern technology that will have a favorable impact on passenger comfort and airport security.

"MAP believes that a privatized NAIA can be free from bureaucratic red tape that slows down decision-making and notes that clear-cut objectives encounter obstructive policies or practices that take years to change," the group said.

"The MAP shares the vision of a much-admired international airport and supports the voice of like-minded countrymen who desire and aspire for the best for our country and people," it said. —VBL, GMA Integrated News