CLARK FREEPORT – Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) chairman Nestor Mangio said yesterday he is “open to resignation” after Pres. Arroyo ordered the junking of the Kuwaiti firm Al Mal as contractor for the $100-million Terminal 2 at the Diosadado Macapagal Interna-tional Airport (DMIA) here.
This, even as Max Sangil, director of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) urged Mangio to “resign out of delicadeza” after the CIAC board again rejected last Monday Al Mal as contractor as directed by the President.
“I am open to resigning and I will think about this,” Mangio said while insisting that “personally, I am quite convinced that Al Mal is the best contractor for the development of the DMIA.”
“We have been looking for a contractor for the past two years and all, except Al Mal, failed in financial capability,” he lamented, pointing out that M.A. Kharafi and Sons, Al Mal’s mother company, has been listed by Fortune Magazine as among the world’s richest.
Last Saturday in her hometown in Lubao in this province, the President was reported to have directed the scrapping of Al Mal amid controversies hounding the firm’s proposals on the project.
CIAC executive vice president Alex Cauguiran said that while the plan was to bid out only the construction of a second terminal, Al Mal wanted also wanted to take over the existing Terminal 1 apart from constructing a second and third terminals and control over 1,500 hectares of the 2,500-hectare civil aviation complex in this freeport.
Cauguiran also said Al Mal demanded that no premiere airport be operated within 150-kilometer radius of the DMIA for 45 years, extendable for another 25 years. “This would deprive other provinces the same chance to host a premiere airport that we fought for before DMIA was developed,” he noted.
The proposal of Al Mal was first junked in December, 2008 but was later revived after the CIAC failed in its initial bidding for the project. Apart from Al Mal, which was being pushed by Mangio, the other pending proposals for the construction of a second passenger terminal are a Malaysian consortium with partners from the United States and the Middle East, and a South Korean consortium with local partners.
Sangil said that because of Mangio’s insistence to consider Al Mal for DMIA development, the construction of Terminal 2 has been delayed. “The timetable was disrupted,” he stressed.
“The opportunities lost with that total focusing on Al Mal are immense to say the least. Terminal 2 would have been a legacy project of the President not only for the people of Pampanga but of Central and Northern Luzon,” Sangil lamented.
Aside from opportunities lost, Sangil also noted the “drain in economic resources the CIAC suffered in evaluating and negotiating with Al Mal.”
“Easily several millions of government money were spent in the many travels of Mangio and the CIAC directors and staff to Kuwait,” Sangil said. “What with business class tickets, $300 per day allowances, and other perks.”
“At every special board meeting on the Al Mal proposal, the directors also earned P9,000 each,” Sangil furthered.
Mangio said, however, that Sangil has been blaming him for his removal as member of the CIAC board last December.
“But I had no control over rules and regulations. There is a prescription against one person being member of both the boards of CIAC and BCDA. Later I found out the President had signed the appointment of Raffy Angeles as his replacement in the CIAC board,” Mangio said. He also said that Sangil had worked for his appointment to the BCDA board since directorship in such board is not co-terminus with the term of Pres. Arroyo.
This, even as Max Sangil, director of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) urged Mangio to “resign out of delicadeza” after the CIAC board again rejected last Monday Al Mal as contractor as directed by the President.
“I am open to resigning and I will think about this,” Mangio said while insisting that “personally, I am quite convinced that Al Mal is the best contractor for the development of the DMIA.”
“We have been looking for a contractor for the past two years and all, except Al Mal, failed in financial capability,” he lamented, pointing out that M.A. Kharafi and Sons, Al Mal’s mother company, has been listed by Fortune Magazine as among the world’s richest.
Last Saturday in her hometown in Lubao in this province, the President was reported to have directed the scrapping of Al Mal amid controversies hounding the firm’s proposals on the project.
CIAC executive vice president Alex Cauguiran said that while the plan was to bid out only the construction of a second terminal, Al Mal wanted also wanted to take over the existing Terminal 1 apart from constructing a second and third terminals and control over 1,500 hectares of the 2,500-hectare civil aviation complex in this freeport.
Cauguiran also said Al Mal demanded that no premiere airport be operated within 150-kilometer radius of the DMIA for 45 years, extendable for another 25 years. “This would deprive other provinces the same chance to host a premiere airport that we fought for before DMIA was developed,” he noted.
The proposal of Al Mal was first junked in December, 2008 but was later revived after the CIAC failed in its initial bidding for the project. Apart from Al Mal, which was being pushed by Mangio, the other pending proposals for the construction of a second passenger terminal are a Malaysian consortium with partners from the United States and the Middle East, and a South Korean consortium with local partners.
Sangil said that because of Mangio’s insistence to consider Al Mal for DMIA development, the construction of Terminal 2 has been delayed. “The timetable was disrupted,” he stressed.
“The opportunities lost with that total focusing on Al Mal are immense to say the least. Terminal 2 would have been a legacy project of the President not only for the people of Pampanga but of Central and Northern Luzon,” Sangil lamented.
Aside from opportunities lost, Sangil also noted the “drain in economic resources the CIAC suffered in evaluating and negotiating with Al Mal.”
“Easily several millions of government money were spent in the many travels of Mangio and the CIAC directors and staff to Kuwait,” Sangil said. “What with business class tickets, $300 per day allowances, and other perks.”
“At every special board meeting on the Al Mal proposal, the directors also earned P9,000 each,” Sangil furthered.
Mangio said, however, that Sangil has been blaming him for his removal as member of the CIAC board last December.
“But I had no control over rules and regulations. There is a prescription against one person being member of both the boards of CIAC and BCDA. Later I found out the President had signed the appointment of Raffy Angeles as his replacement in the CIAC board,” Mangio said. He also said that Sangil had worked for his appointment to the BCDA board since directorship in such board is not co-terminus with the term of Pres. Arroyo.
