Blitz

Quite fittingly, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will release the concession agreement for the rehabilitation and private operation of the NAIA on Dec. 7. This is the anniversary of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Army that devastated the US 7th Fleet.

The DOTr expects the bidders to play a game of blitz. The bidders feel like they are sitting ducks, forced to make errors in their calculations.

This is a textbook case of bureaucratic imperiousness.

The DOTr issued invitations to bid last Aug. 23. Then it took its sweet time to draft the concession agreement for the bidders to consider. After unveiling that draft on Dec. 7, the DOTr gives the bidders only 20 days to compose their respective offers. Those are 20 of the busiest days of the year, including Christmas Day.

This is no way to treat bidders for government programs.

After the draft concession agreement is released, the bidders will have to convene their financial consultants to do the proper valuations. They will have to convene their engineering teams to consider the extent of rehabilitation to be done. They will have to put together an architectural team to design a more functional terminal.

The NAIA, frequently named the World’s Worst Airport, is in great need of a rehab. The task is made more challenging by the fact the repairs will have to be done while airport operations continue uninterrupted. It is bad enough that the airport, in its usual state, suffers from power outages, weather-related suspensions, the breakdown of air control equipment and plain congestion. Dare not imagine what air operations will be like while rehabilitation is being done.

This multi-billion rehab is more than just doing repairs. This is about improving efficiency to accommodate more flights and passengers. This is about reimagining the terminal’s design – which, at the moment, sports a tired Seventies look. Let’s not even talk about approximating Singapore’s Changi Airport.

The bidders are not about to pluck a number from thin air. They are supposed to ensure their investment is viable and the terms of the concession agreement are fair. This is a major multi-billion investment on the part