Piatco to appeal $175M award over NAIA-3 construction

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) plans to appeal the court decision that requires the government to pay Piatco only 20 percent of the firm’s original claim for building the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

Piatco president Jennifer Bote said in an interview that a payment of $175 million, much lower than the company’s $846-million claim, did not reflect the real cost of the project.

“We invested a lot of money in this airport. Of course, we are asking that the government pay for interest charges because we borrowed most of the money from banks,” she said.

“We will go through the legal process of filing our motion for consideration. That’s the legal remedy we have the right to take,” she said.

But she said the company would also be willing to negotiate for a settlement with the government. “We’ll talk to the government to pursue a compromise agreement,” she said.