MANILA, 10 May 2003 ? How about selling Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila to Filipinos working abroad?
This suggestion comes from an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) based in Riyadh as the Philippine government pondered where to get money to pay the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) for building one of the most modern terminals in Asia.
Considering that the government is short of funds, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo might as well tap OFWs to help pay Piatco's expenses, according to Mike Bolos, a senior accountant with a Saudi Arabian healthcare company.
"The Supreme Court's decision nullifying the concession agreements the government signed with Piatco in 1997 provides a golden opportunity for the government to do something very significant for the OFWs," Bolos said in a proposal being circulated over the Internet.
"After making NAIA Terminal 3 operational and preparing it for privatization, I suggest that the government sell it instead to the OFWs rather than to a few big business entities and families," he added.
Early this week, the Supreme Court nullified Piatco's contracts to build and operate the new terminal for numerous violations of Philippine laws.
Yesterday, Piatco was reported to have accepted an offer by the government for an amicable settlement.
Piatco's lawyers are insisting that the government pay the consortium $500 million plus interest, as against the government's plan to pay only $400 million.
Bolos said the NAIA Terminal 3 was something that overseas Filipinos would understand and would be willing to invest in because "it is tangible and it is a facility they use going out of and coming in to the country every now and then," he also told Arab News in an e-mail message.
"The cost price of $400 million that they are talking about can be easily raised from the OFW community. Just $400 each from a million OFWs out of a total 7-8 million OFWs all over the world will produce the amount," he said.
Bolos said the economic benefits accruing from the transaction would trickle down to a greater number of people rather than to just a few big ones.
"It may entail a lot more work as compared to selling it to just a few big business entities, but wouldn't it be worth the effort if in the long run we can make more people, OFWs in particular, benefit from it rather than just a few ones who are rich already?" he asked.
Bolos said this was not the first company where OFWs held equity.
"It was done before with Petron when the government sold part of its ownership to the public. The offering made abroad was oversubscribed many times over although the price of Petron's shares now is not something many OFW investors can be happy about," he said.
"If we can make President Arroyo realize that this could be a masterstroke for her and one of the greatest legacies that her administration can leave behind and for which she would be fondly remembered then we have reached first base," Bolos said.
He explained that Finance Secretary Isidro Camacho would know how to package the NAIA Terminal 3 for sale to the OFWs and Trade and Industry Secretary Mar Roxas could provide the incentives that will enhance its salability to the overseas Filipinos.
"This could be a test case and depending on the response it would generate from the OFWs can be the beginning of many other such like activities," he said.
If this is successful, he said, the OFWs can probably buy next the North and South Luzon Expressways and other tollways in the country.
"The possibilities are endless and the beauty of it if done and handled well is that, the economic benefit will trickle down to a greater number of people rather than just a few ones and the benefit will stay inside the country rather than fly outside as in the case of foreign investors," he added.
