BCDA strikes deal to sell Naia Terminal 3 to government for P65B

Joshua Bingcang —EUGENE ARANETA

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has struck a P65-billion deal to sell to the government its 60-hectare prime property in Pasay City where Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) stands.

To allow the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to build up funds to pay for the property—part of the tangible assets that the San Miguel group-led group recently took over as part of the concession to operate the country’s main international gateway—BCDA agreed to continue leasing out the property to the agency for three years.

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Under the lease-to-purchase deal, the DOTr will have the option to buy the Terminal 3 asset after three years. Otherwise, the lease agreement will just continue, BCDA president and chief executive officer Joshua Bingcang told the Inquirer.

Bingcang explained that the property was worth about P48 billion, just based on zonal value, and that they have agreed on a downpayment of P10 billion.

“That’s the present value. But based on the terms that we are going to assign, the total payment will be P65 billion eventually,” adding that the additional P17 billion would represent interest and escalation rates.

Lease to own

“While [the DOTr] is gathering the funds, it will be lease-to-own for three years,” he said.

He said the BCDA team was able to negotiate for an annual lease payment of P498 million, up from just P180 million previously.

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), the entity under the DOTr that manages the airport, is the contracting party.

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But he said the DOTr was confident that by the third year, it would be able to exercise this option to purchase the property.

Bingcang said that the property was already priced lower than its fair market value, and that they have agreed to such purchase price as a “vital public service contribution” that would lead to the development of the airport.

Earlier in January, Bingcang told reporters that negotiations were ongoing with the MIAA.

By February, the DOTr had announced that a consortium led by the San Miguel group had won the government contract to rehabilitate the airport, which has been tagged as one of the worst airports in the world in the last few years.

As of mid-September, the New Naia Infrastructure Corp. has taken over the operation and maintenance of Naia, beginning a 15-year undertaking (renewable for 10 more years) to transform the country’s main gateway into a world-class airport.

An estimated 50 million passengers pass through the airport, according to the DOTr. This traffic volume is expected to almost double to 90 million by 2030. INQ