SC affirms ruling setting $510 M as Piatco compensation

BAGUIO CITY – The government cannot pay lower compensation to the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) for the expropriation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3, the Supreme Court ( SC) ruled yesterday.

Justices affirmed their ruling in September last year for the government to pay Piatco just compensation amounting to at least $510 million.

The SC rejected the plea of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to lower the amount of compensation to about $104 million.

It stood firm on its unanimous decision setting the amount of just compensation at $267,493,617.26 as of December 2004 plus annual interest of 12 percent from September 2006 and another annual interest of six percent from July 2013 until full payment.

“The Republic is hereby ordered to make direct payment of the just compensation due to Piatco,” read the SC ruling.

The SC also dismissed the appeal of Piatco seeking higher compensation and inclusion of attendant cost and value of depreciation and deterioration totaling to about $106.9 million.

Piatco also sought the inclusion in the just compensation award the P1,784,704,634.23 in taxes being collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue following the SC decision.

However, the SC declared government’s full ownership of the airport facility – free from any obligations to any of the claimants – upon full payment of compensation to Piatco.

In a motion for reconsideration in September last year, the OSG said the government was willing to pay just compensation, as long as Piatco holds a clean title.

Other claimants are Fraport, an equity investor of Piatco for the NAIA 3 project; and Takenaka and Asahikosan, the subcontractors which actually built the NAIA 3 facility.