Roxas in Tokyo to press Naia 3 completion

Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas

Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas II is set to meet with top officials of Japan’s Takenaka Corp. in the hope that a deal could be sealed leading to the completion of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3.

Roxas flew to Tokyo on Sunday along with Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Jose Angel Honrado, according to the MIAA media affairs division.

Roxas said the goal of the Philippine contingent was to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Takenaka Corp., the original contractor for Naia Terminal 3, so that work on the facility could finally be completed.

Once the deal is signed, a Construction Works Agreement would be drafted to specify the conditions and scope to be covered by the project.

A total of 23 airport services, including a flight information display, baggage handling systems, surveillance cameras and fire detection systems are still lacking.

“The country has waited for nearly a decade to complete T3. We are hoping that this stage of talks will finally pave the way to making it fully operational,” Roxas said.

Roxas earlier said he wanted to meet with senior members of Takenaka Corp. to show the Philippine government’s sincerity in striking a fair deal.

“I want to meet with the family’s head, not just professional managers,” Roxas said.

Since it opened in 2008, Naia 3 has been running at about 50 percent of its capacity of 13 million passengers a year. Once it is running at full strength, it is expected to significantly decongest Terminals 1 and 2.

Takenaka was originally hired by Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) to build Naia 3. But when the facility was expropriated by the government—after the Supreme Court found that Piatco was acting merely as a dummy for its German partner Fraport AG—work at the facility stopped.

Takenaka also remains unpaid for its work.

Roxas also said earlier that the difference in the price being asked by Takenaka and the amount the government was willing to pay has narrowed to less than $10 million, from an original gap of $40 million.