Newsbreak on the new Manila airport terminal

The current Newsbreak special issue on NAIA 3 goes to show that, when it is good, Philippine journalism can stand comparison with the best in the world. By carefully assembling all the facts, presenting them in coherent chronological way, and being fair in its judgments, Newsbreak lays out the whole ghastly debacle of Manila’s new airport terminal for the first time. It’s a good read, with a colourful cast of characters; plenty of action, including two assassinations and an attempted murder; and jaw-dropping numbers (to give just one, the government spent $17.8 million in legal expenses between 2003 and 2005 in fighting two international arbitration cases).

Since the fiasco is subject to numerous court cases and arbitrations, both here and internationally, Newsbreak is careful not to come out on one side or the other. When all is said and done, I doubt whether any of the four main protagonists—Piatco (the developer), Fraport (Piatco’s foreign partner), AEDC (the consortium of Filipino-Chinese taipans led by Philippine Airlines boss, Lucio Tan), or Takenaka (the general contractor who built the terminal)—have entirely clean hands.

However, since NAIA 3 is a major public works project, history will also judge the three presidents who oversaw the project: Ramos, Estrada, and Arroyo.

The building of the terminal did not start to unravel until after Ramos’s term and he escapes relatively unscathed. Ramos had the foresight to realize that the country needed a new international terminal, invited the six taipans who constitute AEDC to bid for it, and, when a better bid was proposed by Piatco, oversaw its acceptance.

Perhaps surprisingly, Erap also comes out of the story quite well. Concerned that the AEDC suit against Piatco would derail the project, in his best Don Corleone fashion Estrada tried to reconcile the warring parties: “Among the new president’s moves within two months of assuming power was to call AEDC and Piatco to a meeting in Malacañang. In that meeting held September 3, Estrada made an extraordinary request: for AEDC to drop the civil suit pending before the Pasig RTC against the award of the Naia 3 contract to the Paircargo group, now Piatco.” There’s a time for Don Corleone and I think this was it—AEDC did indeed drop its civil suits and for a while the project proceeded, shakily, but it did move forward.

Newsbreak also adds a useful reminder for all of us chattering away in the Manila rumour mill. The magazine found little evidence that the Chengs (the family behind Piatco) were Estrada “cronies”. An allegation that one of the Zamora brothers (Estrada allies) was a stockholder of Piatco was “readily believed”, despite the lack of proof. In fact, according to Newsbreak, the Zamoras were not incorporators, board members, or even stockholders of Piatco.

The president who comes out dreadfully from the debacle is Gloria. Admittedly, the airport was already a problem when she assumed office, but through her characteristic indecisiveness and lack of political will she made it into a catastrophe. The strap line of one of the Newsbreak articles sums it up perfectly: “Incoherent policies and failed quick fixes mark Arroyo’s response to NAIA 3”. Here is one example. The Office of the Solicitor General filed an expropriation suit (meaning that the government would attempt to take the new terminal into public ownership) before the Pasay regional trial court on 21 December 2004. As Newsbreak points out, the timing was “unfortunate”, since “just a day before the Philippine government’s lawyers in the ICSID arbitration proceedings in Washington, DC, had made a filing stating that Manila had not taken acts amounting to expropriation.”

There is plenty more where that came from but this post is already too long. The Newsbreak special issue is dated September—December 2007 so should still be in the newstands. Alternatively, if you are not in the Philippines you can order it from the Newsbreak website. If you are interested in how this country works, you gotta read it.

Comments

[R Velasquez]

First of all, congratulations on such a great blog. I've been a visitor for quite a while now and this would be my first time to comment.

Anyway, I've always found GMA to be an indecisive leader, with poor political instincts. I hope to get the issue of Newsbreak you cited and learn more about the NAIA 3 debacle. Thanks again on such a great blog. Cheers!

[cvj]

Hi Torn, i bought the Special Issue of Newsbreak Sept to Dec 2007 but i can't find the article on NAIA. The entire issue is devoted to Human Trafficking.

[torn]

R. Velasquez -- Many thanks for your nice comment. It is always great to hear from new readers. We agree on GMA -- the ironic thing about her is that she tried to sell herself as a "conviction politician" in the Thatcher mold. I'm no fan of the Iron Lady but at least she knew her own mind.

cvj -- That's weird! I have no explanation -- are there two magazines called Newsbreak I wonder?

[Sidney]

Newsbreak has now three special editions:

The A to Z of NAIA 3 Special Issue

Human Trafficking Special Issue

Post-Elections Special Issue

Cvj bought the wrong issue.

[tutubi]

that's the way journalism should be. unlike the irresponsible, hyped-up "documentaries" of others

[cvj]

Sidney, thanks for the clarification.