Megawide may revive pitch for Naia modernization

Now that rival “superconsortium” is officially out of the Naia (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) public-private partnership project, construction and engineering firm Megawide Construction Corp. is willing to take a second crack at the modernization of Metro Manila’s main international aviation gateway.

“We are open to study it,” Megawide chair and CEO Edgar Saavedra said in an interview with the Inquirer. “Technically, the proposal submitted by Megawide is still valid because it’s next in line,” Saavedra noted.

The Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday it had revoked the original proponent status of Naia Consortium, ending years of negotiations and allowing the government to entertain other bidders.

Megawide’s proposal is considered “next in line” because it was submitted weeks after Naia Consortium’s offer was submitted in February 2018.

Section 10.6 of the Build-Operate-Transfer law’s implementing rules stated that the “second complete proposal will only be entertained if the first one is rejected.”

Ruben Reinoso, transportation undersecretary for planning, said Megawide’s proposal would be considered “if they are still interested.” It remains unclear if Megawide, operator of Mactan Cebu International Airport, was among the proponents currently in talks with the government, as revealed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Wednesday.

Saavedra said they had not been in recent discussions with the government over the Naia project.

Megawide will have to “carefully check the terms of reference” to be set by the government, said Manuel Louie Ferrer, Megawide director and president of GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp.Megawide and GMR of India submitted in 2018 a $3-billion unsolicited proposal to upgrade and rehabilitate the Naia under an 18-year concession. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla and Miguel R. Camus