The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) yesterday urged the government to expedite the privatization of the country’s premier airport, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), whether through a solicited or unsolicited bidding process.
MAP has joined the public clamor for the expeditious privatization of NAIA, noting the need to place the rehabilitation and operation of NAIA under private sector management, which has demonstrated its capability and extensive resources in undertaking big-ticket complex public infrastructure projects.
“Privatization should be undertaken in an unassailable manner with full transparency, in accordance with best practices, existing laws, and regulations which 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 in a statement.
The government’s proposed solicited bidding scheme and a private consortium’s unsolicited bid proposal for NAIA’s rehabilitation are under evaluation.
“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, fiscal constraints, and compounded by lack of management autonomy,” MAP said.
“All of these 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,” it added.
Last month, the DOTr and the Manila International Airport Authority submitted a joint proposal for the P141-billion NAIA solicited public-private partnership project. The solicited proposal was submitted after the DOTr completed the 30-day evaluation of the Manila International Airport Consortium’s (MIAC) unsolicited bid proposal submitted last April. MIAC has proposed to invest P247 billion, including the P57 billion upfront payment.
