caught on anc last night: mar roxas explaining why the cobonpue, pineda, and layug group that had been working pro bono on rehab plans for naia 1 upon the request of some members of the aquino cabinet were unceremoniously dropped from the project.  the gist of his defense was, the naia has structural defects that were not addressed by the cobonpue group.  besides, he cleared it with ping de jesus (whom he replaced in the dept of transportation) who said wala namang kontrata.  when asked about the cabinet people who requested the help of cobonpue et al, ang sagot ni mar, something to the effect na, walang namang sinabi sa kanya ang mga ito.  ang dating sa akin, parang hindi sila nag-uusap?

at ito namang sina butch abad et al, not a squeak from them, either to confirm or deny. lumalabas tuloy na prisintado lang sina cobonpue at gusto lang mangumisyon?

from a philstar.com report:

Way before news broke of the Philippines having one of the worst airports in the world, eight months ago, Finance Secretary Purisima, Budget Secretary Abad, and DTI Secretary Domingo asked a small, influential group of Pinoys (that included Josie Natori and Fernando Zobel) what they could do to help the country in terms of imaging. They went to Kenneth (Cobonpue)’s showroom, took a look around and said, “This should be the face of the modern Philippines.” From then on, the three designers completed a proposal to renovate NAIA I into a “boutique airport,” specialized in terms of design and service, and they would do everything free of charge as a way of giving back and helping the country.”

and here’s an abs-cbn news video with National Competitiveness Council co-chairman guillermo luz, among others.

Kinumpirma ng National Competitiveness Council na hiniling nga ng pamahalaan ang serbisyo ng grupo nina Kenneth Cobonpue para gawin ang disenyo ng bagong NAIA Terminal 1. Taliwas ito sa naunang pahayag ng Manila International Airport Authority na walang pormal na kasunduan sa pagitan ng gobyerno at grupo nina Cobonpue. Magba-Bandila si Chiara Zambrano, exclusive. Bandila, Nobyembre 25, 2011, Biyernes

indeed, government can change its mind, lalo na’t walang kontrata, but the way it was announced and handled leaves much to be desired.  here’s a facebook exchange:

me:  ‎8 months in-entertain ang plano na yon.  mar and butch abad/ricky carandang together should have found a fair and proper way of breaking the news to cobonpue et al.  napaka-bad pr.

Dannie: Or perhaps a compromise that some of the donated designs be executed and attributed to the donors, and the others be taken on by LVL et al.  Di sana lahat masaya.  Napakalawak ng airport bldg, at maraming issues, and more help from the private sector, mas mainam sana.  A lesson we learn : sometimes its best to always first ask ourselves “are we dealing with an office or an ad hoc committee” before we offer our best intentions.

me: mismo! it started out as a goodwil project, ends up as a lesson in why-you-should-think-thrice-when-phnoy govt-asks-you-for-help.

Dannie: Well, I am sure things would have not gone too far, if only they invited the would be donors for a roundtable meeting, explained clearly the priorities of the bldg after a thorough inspection by engineers, and priorities had to change for awhile. The donors are respectable designers, they will understand the situation, if only they were respectfully told so.

Katrina : Tito Dannie, exactly what Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda were saying from the beginning: talk to us properly, acknowledge that we were ASKED to do this work for govt.  Pineda even said they were willing to give the design up to the chosen architectural / design team, wala namang problema, basta kausapin sila ng maayos. It’s really Malacanang’s lack of professionalism that’s revealed here. And i wish Mar naman had the sense to ask the right questions of all parties before he came out with those soundbites. Because in the process of justifying going for LVLA, he fell into the trap of anti-Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda rhetoric.

as for dreams of a changi-like airport, for once i agree with teddy boy locsin.  check out this teditorial.