Piatco hits court valuation, to appeal to CA

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco), the consortium that built the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, on Wednesday said it would appeal the decision of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court that awarded the firm only about US$176 million as compensation for Naia 3.

Piatco has been demanding $846 million from the government, which expropriated the Naia 3 project in December 2004 for allegedly being ridden with anomalies. The court’s final figure was closer to the $149 million that the government had said it was prepared to pay Piatco.

“The amount the judge awarded is a pittance. The decision is totally unacceptable to the investors. Legal experts on expropriation easily see loopholes in the decision. It runs roughshod of certain basic legal rules and procedures,” Moises Tolentino Jr., Piatco vice president for legal and public affairs, said in a statement.

Tolentino said Piatco’s lawyers have notified Judge Eugenio de la Cruz of the Pasay RTC Branch 117 of the company’s plan to appeal the decision before the Court of Appeals.

“It is one decision, yet again coming from the government side, whose negative repercussions will reverberate around the world. It is bound to imperil the much ballyhooed ‘Public-Private-Partnership’ campaign of the Aquino administration to lure private investors to fund its development projects,” Tolentino said.

The judge’s decision, he alleged, took the valuation proffered by the government through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) “almost hook line and sinker,” adding, “[the RTC’s valuation] sounded like an echo of the government lawyers’ pleading.”

Tolentino said Piatco lawyers scored the expropriation court’s decision rejecting the claim of the company for what it said was the latter’s failure to present “conclusive evidence” of its expenses and costs.

“This is incredible, considering that part of the valuation of Piatco is the $275 million already paid to Takenaka, and confirmed by the latter, for the construction of the slightly unfinished facility,” he said.

Moreover, Tolentino said, the judge rejected the valuation made by the board of commissioners that the court created. The board had recommended a valuation of $376 million plus 12-percent interest from date of taking, as replacement cost for the facility.

The Piatco official also countered the judge’s ruling that the country’s suffered “prodigious financial loss” and “tainted image to the global community.”

“[He forgot] entirely that it is the private investors who financed the terminal’s construction, with not a single centavo contributed by the government. In fact, with Judge dela Cruz’s decision, it is Piatco who is to suffer the prodigious loss,” Tolentino said.

On Monday, Judge dela Cruz ordered the government to pay Piatco $175,787,245.10 for the Naia 3 built with no less than $470 million from private investors, including Fraport AG of Germany.

Piatco’s total claims for just compensation is $846,428,946, including attendant costs, interests, and adjustments to inflation.

The Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa), however, welcomed the court ruling.

“This is a welcome development as this is a victory for the government,” said Miaa general manager Jose Angel Honrado.

The government and Piatco have been fighting over the ownership and operation of Naia Terminal 3 for several years now.

Naia Terminal 3, which was mothballed for years due to the legal and structural issues, is currently operating at only half capacity. With a report from Tina G. Santos