| Photo by Nicolas Jehly on Unsplash
During the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) 2024 Board of Directors induction, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto floated the idea of selling the NAIA complex and all the land. Converting the 600-hectare Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) complex into a business district once the new airport in Bulacan is finished could yield the government about P6 trillion.
Investors in the P170B upgrade of one of the world’s worst airports are not too pleased to hear this in all likelihood. The San Miguel Corporation-led consortium has yet to see the ink dry on the recently signed awards documents with the government. The about-face is most disturbing. The Incheon International Airport Corporation wanted to make $1B plus a year for 25 years, including an anticipated contract renewal. The other partners have not provided estimates of their profits. The government was to have an 86% share of all earnings for the duration of the contracts, a most generous arrangement considering the government was to pay exactly zero for the contract.
The announcement will almost certainly lead to a repeat of the contested contracts for the construction of NAIA Terminal 3 during the Arroyo administration, which nearly bankrupted the German company that built the Frankfurt Airport and left NAIA 3 to languish in lengthy litigation, rendering the terminal almost obsolete at launch, albeit intended to be state of the art at completion.
Policy flip-flops like this deter foreign investors rather than imagined constitutional constraints, which are used as a pretext for ulterior motives.
“Until legislation prohibits such practices, kingmakers in the Philippines shall continue to make Kings curry eventual favor that enriches them and those they brought to power. To expect the Philippine Congress to consider, much less enact, such laws would be a hallucination.”
Who makes real estate commissions from the P6 Trillion sale of the NAIA complex? How much political influence will be brought to bear to favor certain developers? Any consideration for mass housing? Probably not. Is an imagined run for political office by Ramon Ang of SMC despite his open denials in the equation? Local or domestic investors are better run for cover whenever national interest is invoked in the dialogue.
The last administration saw the leveraging of much wealth in favor of those who supported their campaign. Is the NAIA complex development designed to reward those who provided support during the last elections? Until legislation prohibits such practices, kingmakers in the Philippines shall continue to make Kings curry eventual favor that enriches them and those they brought to power. To expect the Philippine Congress to consider, much less enact, such laws would be a hallucination.
Filipinos get what they deserve. Unfortunately, this lesson is historically difficult for Filipinos to learn, a fact politicians exploit. Filipinos do not learn from history and gravitate towards repeating it, even at their own peril. The solution to their problems as a country stares them squarely in the eyes, but Filipinos would rather repeat the same mistakes than risk a different outcome by trying the new.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Crispin Fernandez advocates for overseas Filipinos, public health, transformative political change, and patriotic economics. He is also a community organizer, leader, and freelance writer.
