MANILA, 30 August 2006 — Malacañang Palace yesterday said the government will challenge an international court ruling ordering the return of Manila’s new airport terminal to its builders.
“What is at stake here is the interest of the Filipino people and the sovereign prerogatives of the Philippine government under the rule of law,” presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said a day after news of the ruling of the Singapore-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitration Tribunal came out.
The ruling ordered the Philippine government to return possession of Terminal 3 to the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (PIATco), a consortium led by Germany’s Fraport AG.
Fraport, which has a 30-percent stake in PIATCo, is pursuing a separate arbitration in Washington, demanding compensation of $465 million for the project.
PIATCo built the terminal under a “build-operate-transfer” contract but in 2002, Arroyo revoked the contract on the grounds that certain terms were illegally renegotiated by her deposed predecessor Joseph Estrada in 1998.
This was upheld by the Supreme Court last December, but it also ordered the government to pay up to P3 billion ($51 million) to PIATCo for the terminal.
The government, however, won an injunction against the payments earlier this month.
PIATCo then brought the case to the ICC in Singapore.
PIATCo spokesman Moises Tolentino said that in light of the ICC ruling, the company would re-take possession of the at the end of this month.
“Come Aug. 31, we will be re-taking possession of the terminal facility. However, operation is out of the question since we need to inspect thoroughly the terminal,” Tolentino said.
He also warned that a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Court of Appeals (CA) suspending payment of P3 billion for the expropriated terminal will have severe economic repercussions for the country.
