German envoy to PH confident Duterte admin will pay Piatco

GERMAN Ambassador to the Philippines Thomas Ossowski has expressed optimism that the administration of presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will help implement the Supreme Court ruling last year that ordered the government to pay the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) $510 million in compensation for building the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3.

Piatco and its German partner Fraport, along with Japanese subcontractors Takenaka and Asahikosan, were responsible for bringing the Naia 3 airport facility to full operation.

The high court rejected the appeal of the Office of the Solicitor General to lower the amount of compensation to about $104 million.

Ossowski welcomed Duterte’s victory, saying the May 9 election “shows the maturity of Philippine democracy.” He said the German government will continue to strengthen bilateral relations with the Philippines under the new administration.

Germany is the Philippines’ biggest European investor and more German companies are considering upgrading their investments, the envoy said.

“I’m happy we finally have a ruling on the Piatco-Fraport case. Once the ruling is executed, it will allow the strengthening of our investments [in the Philippines],” Ossowski told the Inquirer in an interview at the recent Friedrich Naumann Foundation anniversary in Makati.

He said that for more than 10 years, trade relations between Germany and the Philippines suffered a serious setback due to Fraport’s failure to gain from its investments in the Naia 3 construction.

“As long as the Fraport case is not resolved, investment relations between our countries suffer. The ruling of the Supreme Court will open a new chapter and start anew our investment relationship,” said Ossowski.
Hopeful on peace process

The German envoy also expressed confidence that the government can achieve its goal of just and lasting peace with the communist rebels with Duterte’s commitment to continue the peace process in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Evan Garcia led a public-private partnership (PPP) briefing in London with top British multinational firms engaged in construction, banking and finance, law, engineering design and architecture, and consulting to explore the Philippines as an investment site.

“The Philippines continues to be open for business and we encourage UK firms to participate in the pipeline of infrastructure projects under the country’s PPP program,” said Garcia in a statement issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday.