The modernization project at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) is not covered by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), according to Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez.
Lopez said this on Thursday after the Naia workers’ group Pagkakaisa ng mga Users, Stakeholders at Obrero ng Naia (PUSO ng Naia) on Tuesday said it will submit an open letter, urging the ICI to investigate the P1.5-trillion public-private partnership between the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC) for the redevelopment of the Naia. ‘They have the right to go to ICI. But I, I studied what the mandate of ICI is. This, there are no public funds that were disbursed. There is no misuse of funds that are related to flood control or other infrastructure,’ Lopez said in an ambush interview on Thursday.
‘On the contrary, they are the ones who give money to the government. Simple as that,’ he added, referring to NNIC President Ramon Ang’s remark that they remitted P57 billion to the national government in one year of Naia’s privatized operations. Lopez said he is respecting the decision of the group to call the ICI to investigate the PPP program.
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‘If that is what they want, we will respect it. But in our opinion, it should not be covered by ICI,’ said Lopez.
Irregularities?
On Tuesday, the PUSO ng Naia called on the ICI to look into the alleged irregularities of the PPP deal for Naia’s modernization.
‘The ICI must move for a full review of the agreement to determine whether legal safeguards for consultation, disclosure, and oversight were deliberately bypassed,’ the group pointed out.
Meanwhile, in April this year, petitioners composed of lawyers Joel Butuyan, Ma. Soledad Derequito-Mawis, Antonio Gabriel La Viña, Roger Rayel and Jose Mari Benjamin Francisco Tirol asked the Supreme Court to void both the Naia PPP deal, asserting that it was ‘never designed with the common good or public welfare in mind.’