Gov’t to review Sangley airport deal if selection process proven rigged

SANGLEY AIRPORT RUNWAY Construction is underway at the Sangley airport in Cavite City, 35 kilometers south of Manila. A plan to develop Sangley Point International Airport in the area is being questioned by people who have reviewed documents of the joint venture between a consortium and the Cavite provincial government. INQUIRER.net/RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines — The government is open to review the $10-billion Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) project if there is valid proof that a consortium including state-run China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC) was favored in the selection process.

“You must remember that this government has always been open to any complaint. In fact, we encouraged people to complain so that we will know what the anomalies there are,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing Thursday.

Panelo issued the statement after joint venture documents and a feasibility study for SPIA indicates that a Chinese partner was favored from the very beginning of the selection process.

Bidders also supposedly dropped out due to the subjective criteria and rushed selection process, leaving the consortium of CCCC and MacroAsia Corp., an aviation services firm of Philippine Airlines owner Lucio Tan, the sole consortium vying for the project.

However, the Palace official claimed that the government will act only if there is valid proof that the selection process is tilted.

“The presumption is everything is aboveboard unless you give us proof that it is not then we come in,” Panelo said.

Edited by KGA