SC says price for NAIA 3 takeover final
BAGUIO CITY — The Supreme Court denied on Tuesday the government’s plea to reduce its payment to Philippine International Airport Terminals Co., Inc. (Piatco) for taking over the Ninoy Aquino International Airport International Passenger Terminal 3 (NAIA-IPT III) in Pasay City.
At the same time, the high court partially granted its motion for reconsideration by declaring that the terminal’s ownership “shall be vested in the Republic upon full payment of the just compensation…”
In its final summer en banc session this year, the court sustained as final the “just compensation” formula fixed by its Sept. 8, 2015 decision: a principal of $326.932 million less $ 59.439 million already paid in compliance with a 2005 SC ruling allowing the expropriation of NAIA-IPT III, with the resulting difference of $267.494 million adding 12% annual interest from Sept. 11, 2006 to June 30, 2013 and 6% per annum from July 1, 2013 onwards.
Using this computation, the ruling placed “just compensation” at $ 510.305 million as of Dec. 31, 2014.
SC Public Information Office Chief Theodore O. Te said in a briefing that the decision is final.
“No further pleadings will be allowed,” he said, adding that “entry of judgment should be made in due course.”
The government had earlier appealed the compensation set by the high court and said it should have to pay a total of just $104.52 million without interest.
It argued that a smaller compensation serves as “rectification” for Piatco’s failure to abide by the 1997 build-operate-and-transfer contract’s specifications. The government also argued that Piatco should not be paid for lost income potential because the concession agreement for the NAIA-IPT III project was invalidated.
Besides partially granting the government’s motion insofar as full ownership is concerned, the high court also denied the appeal filed by Piatco, which had demanded a bigger principal of $470.45 million plus 12% interest per annum.
The SC also denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Piatco’s Japanese contractors, Takenaka Corp. and Asahikosan Corp., which sought compensation for building the facility. The court had earlier said that the fact that they built the building “does not make them the owner.”
The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Arturo D. Brion. Five magistrates — Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno, as well as Associate Justices Antonio T. Carpio, Mariano C. del Castillo, Francis H. Jardeleza and Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa — inhibited from the case.
Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma, Jr. declined to comment on this development, saying: “We need to verify with the [Solicitor- General’s] office,” while Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya did not respond to requests for comment.
Initially, the Pasay City Regional Trial Court decided on $116.3 million in net compensation. The Court of Appeals in August 2013 raised this to $300.2 million plus 6% interest per annum from Sept. 11, 2006 onwards.
The NAIA- IPT III contract, awarded to Piatco in 1997 during the Ramos administration, was declared irregular by the Arroyo government in 2002, the year the terminal should have become operational. The Supreme Court voided the deal in 2003 and the government moved to take over the nearly completed facility a year later as compensation talks broke down. The terminal finally became operational in 2008.