Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Thursday said it is not over yet for Megawide Construction Corporation and its India-based consortium partner, GMR Infrastructure Ltd., to bid for the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
During the Senate Public Services Committee's hearing, Tugade said Megawide may still appeal to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) to reconsider the revocation of its original proponent status (OPS) for the government's NAIA rehabilitation program.
"Ang reading ko ho dito sa nangyari, hindi pa ho sarado completely 'yong usapan ng original proponent status ng Megawide. Mayroon pa ho sila, halimbawa ho, kung gusto nila na mag-apela sa desisyon, sa aking pananaw, pwede pang mag-apela habang ginagawa ng MIAA ang kanilang reconstruction at rehabilitation program," said the head of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the mother agency of the MIAA.
(My reading to what happened is that the discussion on Megawide's OPS is not yet terminated. They still have the chance, for example, if they want to appeal the decision, in my opinion, they can while the MIAA is doing its reconstruction and rehabilitation program.)
Tugade said it is within the "procedural rights" of Megawide to call for the reconsideration of revocation, which was also recognized by the MIAA.
The DOTr secretary said the revocation came with "caveat instructions" that the MIAA shall, in the meantime, proceed with the NAIA rehabilitation program and that expenses incurred from the project will later be "reimbursed" from the private proponent.
"Kung pag-uusapan 'yong mga submission...eh mayroon pa hong bintana o pinto na nakabukas para para pag-usapan (If only the submissions were to be discussed, then a window or door remains open for negotiations)," he said.
On Tuesday, December 15, the MIAA affirmed the December 4 recommendation of its board to revoke Megawide's OPS for its supposed failure to comply with the government's financial capability requirements.
During the Senate inquiry, the MIAA explained that they considered the observation of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) that Megawide's financial position was not enough to be able to take on the the P108.75-billion airport rehabilitation project.
Megawide officials, on the other hand, maintained that they have already submitted the documents required by the agency to prove that it has the financial capacity. They said that authorities did not include GMR's 40-percent stake in computing the equity required from their consortium.
Asked about their timetable, however, MIAA General Manager Ed Monreal could not provide the Senate panel a definite period as he explained that the reconsideration of the OPS would be a board decision.
He said he will forward to members of the MIAA board Megawide's appeal for reconsideration to decide whether or not to "act favorably or not".
"Should there be a letter from Megawide, we will ask the board to convene, to study the proposal, then we will see how the board takes it," Monreal said.
Monreal told the Senate panel that until the MIAA board has decided to reconsider its earlier decision, the revocation of the Megawide's OPS stays.
Tugade, who said that he will leave the matter to the MIAA, advised Megawide to immediately submit its motion of reconsideration so that the agency can take it up.
Senator Grace Poe, public services committee chairperson, urged the MIAA, NEDA and Megawide to sit down and thresh out the issues before scrapping Megawide's bid and again initiating talks with other potential proponents.
The NAIA rehabilitation program has previously been stalled after he government withdrew last July the OPS of the NAIA Consortium, a group conglomerates interested in upgrading the country's main gateway.
Monreal, in the hearing, identified two more firms that have expressed interest in the NAIA rehabilitation program: the Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions, Inc. and the San Miguel Corporation.
"The Senate, we're just a little worried because it took two years for the DOTr, MIAA to finally decide that the consortium cannot undertake the project, tapos ito na naman (but then this happens again). Matatapos na rin 'yong term ni Presidente, alam ko naman na prayoridad niyo 'yong airport...kaya medyo nagtaka lang kami anong nangyari dito (And President Duterte's term is almost ending, we know that the rehabilitation of the airports is a priority, that's why we were a bit puzzled what happened here)," Poe said.
"All that we would like to see is that, at the end of the day, what should be done in order that this project can be started. We concede that there are a number of issues that must be resolved. But yes, this must be resolved so that we can proceed with this project," Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also said.