Groups oppose airport privatization

“NAIA is a strategic public service that the Philippine government must manage and operate to serve the interests of the traveling public – not to become a profit center for elite corporations.”

By Aaron Ernest Cruz
Bulatlat.com

RODRIGUEZ, Rizal – Concerned individuals and progressive groups heightened opposition to the privatization of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), saying that fee increases, among other consequences, will burden Filipinos. 

The Ugnayan ng mga Lumalaban sa Airport Privatization (ULAP) network was launched on September 12 to carry the campaign.. They staged a symbolic action, flying paper planes with their demands written on it such as to reclaim NAIA for public service and to halt terminal fee hikes. The increase was reportedly set for implementation this month. 

ULAP said that the first implementation of terminal fee hikes would already be a burden to Filipinos. Terminal fees to domestic flights jumped from P200 to P390 ($3.50 to $7) pesos and terminal fees  to international flights jumped from P550 to P950 ($9.63 to $16).

Read: Public-private partnerships under fire for soaring utility costs

In a press conference ULAP lead convenor Atty. Rico Domingo said that their main advocacy is getting back the most vital airport in the Philippines to serve the Filipinos. “ULAP is a broad network of consumers, workers, migrants, and citizens who are coming together to oppose privatization at NAIA. Our grievance and our request to all of you, we will stand firm that the airport is a public service and not a business. We are here to demand transparency, reject the concession deal, and ensure that NAIA is for the people, not for profit.”

Domingo encouraged the people to take a stand against the NAIA privatization and to assert that public services should not be put at the hands of private individuals who exploit the people’s needs.

Also on September 12, the Samahan at Ugnayan ng mga Konsyumer para sa Ikauunlad ng Bayan (SUKI) Network staged a lighting protest at the House of Representative together with other civil society groups to condemn the fee hikes under Ramon Ang’s New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC).

They also submitted a petition to the Office of the President, the Supreme Court, the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Office of the Senate President calling for the revocation of the privatization contract of NAIA and to suspend the increase in terminal fees. 

They said that “NAIA is a strategic public service that the Philippine government must manage and operate to serve the interests of the traveling public – not to become a profit center for elite corporations.” 

“These terminal and other airport fees can increase every five to 20 years under the Revised Administrative Order No.1. All travellers will shoulder the burden of the higher airport and airline fees and rental fares through more expensive airfares,” the petition read. “NNIC started charging much higher fees even before investing in substandard NAIA upgrades.”

They also stressed that NAIA alone is already profitable even before privatization, with P15 billion ($262,375,371) gross revenues annually since 2000. NNIC shall also control not just the regulated fees but also the “non-regulated fees” like rentals, concessions, and utilities.

Although the government will get a revenue-sharing of 82.16%, all the passenger service charges go to NNIC.

Petitioners calculated that P4.3 billion ($75,214.27) in passenger services charges alone will be gathered for the last two quarters of 2024 and first two quarters of 2025. The total revenues for the same period is P6.9 billion ($120,692.67).   

Lastly, the process itself is dubious since it has been rushed. The government even dubbed it as the fastest approved Private-Public Partnership in Philippine history.

The PPP Code took effect on Dec. 3, 2023, repealing the Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) Law. Petitioners said that the NAIA privatization proceeded under the BOT Law instead of the new PPP Code.

“Both the Office of the Solicitor General and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel advised that the PPP Code governed the NAIA Project, yet the Department of Transportation (DOTr), MIAA, and the Pre-qualification Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) proceeded under the repealed BOT Law. This is in direct violation of the Constitution’s separation of the powers and the rule of law,” the petition said.

PARA Commuters’ Network convenor Nanoy Rafael described the privatization as a “legal corruption” and is also worse just like the substandard and ghost flood control projects. “Our fear as commuters is that Ramon Ang and Marcos Jr.’s profits are certain, but the service the public will receive is not,” he said. 

Rafael also questioned the credibility of Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Corporation to take over the most important airport in the Philippines, citing the experts’ take on New Manila International Airport as a disastrous flood-prone project. 

There are three pending petitions in the Supreme Court that seek to suspend and review the Concession Agreement and MIAA’s Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 2024, which authorized these hikes. 

Makabayan bloc also filed House Resolution No. 2316, urging the House of Representatives to probe on NAIA privatization. (AMU, DAA)

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