Airport workers, stakeholders question ADB advisory role in NAIA privatization

A coalition of airport workers and stakeholders is questioning the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) advisory role in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) privatization deal.

They are concerned that the concession framework may shift the costs of NAIA's modernization from the private concessionaire to the public.

Romy Sauler, representing PUSO ng NAIA, condemned the ADB for an "unconscionable dictate" that passengers, workers, and stakeholders should fund airport improvements instead of the private concessionaire, calling it "highway robbery dressed up as development."

Another labor group, Socialista Inc. through its secretary general Ding Villasin, alleged that the concession agreement violates democratic process and social justice principles.

Villasin criticized the ADB for allowing the Marcos administration, MIAA, and DOTr to push through the deal without considering the voices of those who will pay for it, describing it as "development at gunpoint."

The groups are specifically condemning the ADB for allegedly recommending that consumers, concessionaires, and workers bear the cost of NAIA's redevelopment.