Another petition against the concession agreement for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Project, which transferred the management of the airport to the San Miguel-led New NAIA Infra Corporation (NNIC), has reached the Supreme Court (SC).
Lawyers Rico Domingo and Ceasar Oracion filed a petition for certiorari or prohibition seeking the issuance of a temporary restraining order, writ of preliminary injunction, or other injunctive remedies.
The respondents are the Department of Transportation, the Manila International Airport Authority, the Pre-Qualification, Bids and Awards Committee for the NAIA PPP Project, the Cabinet, the PPP Governing Board, and the NNIC.
The petitioners argued that the respondents committed grave abuse of discretion by continuing and completing the bidding process for the NAIA PPP project under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law, which was repealed by Republic Act 11966, or the new PPP Code.
Aside from this, the petitioners said the respondents implemented the project without prior consultation and despite not having obtained the Sanggunian approval.
In April, several lawyers also filed a petition against the implementation of the concession agreement for the NAIA PPP Project.
Reacting to the first petition, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon told a news conference on April 10 that the concession agreement was aboveboard.
“This was a properly bid out concession agreement, advised no less than by the Asian Development Bank, so the government stands by the agreement and the process by which the agreement was signed,” Dizon said. — VBL, GMA Integrated News
