Awarding the contract to rehabilitate and upgrade the aging premier international gateway to the country by, hopefully, the first quarter of 2024 is, undoubtedly, a big step towards sprucing up the global image of the Philippines, which struggles to keep up with its neighbors, having long been challenged by a persistent under-provision of basic infrastructure and weak business and investment climate.

Transferring to the hands of the private sector, the rehabilitation, operation, and maintenance of the main gateway, notorious for its congestion, long passenger queue times, and embarrassing disruptions, is way too long overdue.

Anyone taking on the NAIA rehabilitation will also have to contend with unprofessional behavior — even thievery — by airport personnel, the latest incident being the filching by an Office of Transport Security female screening officer of $300 from a departing Chinese passenger's wallet, which she tried to force down her throat as superiors were about to confront her.

The worst thing is that the theft, caught on CCTV, revealed what appeared to be the connivance of other OTS personnel manning the screening machine.

These challenges will be assumed by any one of those groups paying the non-refundable P2.75-million fee to participate in the P170.6-billion ($3 billion) rehabilitation project. Initially, five potential bidders have stepped forward, indicating interest.

Of the five, three — namely, the GMR Group of India, San Miguel Corporation, and the Manila International Airport Consortium — are well known. The Department of Transportation, meanwhile, has yet to share information on the two others, namely, the Asian Airport Consortium and an entity named Spark 888 Management.

The Manila International Airport Consortium is comprised of six of the most influential business interests in the country, namely, the Alliance Global Group (led by Megaworld's Kevin Tan), Aboitiz InfraCapital, AC Infrastructure, Asia's Emerging Dragon Corporation, Alliance Global-InfraCorp Development, Filinvest Development Corporation, and JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corporation, along with leading New York City-based infrastructure fund manager/investor, Global Infrastructure Partners.

Earlier, MIAC  submitted an unsolicited proposal of P267 billion ($4.8 billion) for the NAIA rehabilitation to increase passenger capacity from the current 35 million to nearly twice within a certain period.

The consortium also proposed to expand NAIA's runway, introduce state-of-the-art technology, and improve the overall passenger experience over a 25-year concession period.

However, the government, through the National Economic and Development Authority, rejected the MIAC proposal, opting instead to openly invite parties to participate in single-stage competitive bidding under a

Rehabilitate-Operate-Expand-Transfer modality, paving the way for a public-private partnership project that would cover all facilities of the airport, including the four NAIA terminals and runways, in a concession plan that would last 15 years, with a possible decade-long extension.

Another interested party is the GMR Group of India. The conglomerate, which runs airports in India and infrastructure projects in Greece, Indonesia and Singapore, also operates with the acclaimed Mactan-Cebu International Airport with Megawide.

There was an earlier attempt by the government to rehabilitate  NAIA in 2020. GMR and Megawide teamed to take a shot at a contract for that project, but the bid failed.

Mega food, beverage, energy, telecommunications and infrastructure conglomerate, San Miguel Corporation, through its subsidiary, San Miguel Aerocity Inc., which is already working on a contract to build, develop, operate, and maintain an airport in Bulacan, has also indicated interest in bidding for the NAIA rehabilitation project.

Its airport project in Bulacan, called the New Manila International Airport, has a 50-year concession period.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the Public Service Act enacted in the past Duterte regime that allows foreigners to own public utilities, including airports and airlines, in the country, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista has gone on a roadshow to inveigle entities and consortiums overseas to invest in the NAIA project.

Interested parties will be invited to a pre-bid conference on 22 September, with a 27 December 2023 deadline for submitting bids, after which the DoTr will open and evaluate the proposals.

Hopefully, the winning bidder will soon be awarded the contract to do something about the dilapidated airport system adequately.

For sure, it will involve more than just making over what, of late, has been adjudged among the worst, depressingly most stressful airports in Asia, nay, the world.

NAIA's reputation among air travelers has poorly been marred — from air traffic system glitches that stall flights, power outages that turn the terminal into a furnace, airport security personnel that steal,  airport food fare that make people gag, baggage release delays, horrendously long queues, among other negatives. It will take a lot of skill, competence, patience, discipline, and substantial financial resources to transform NAIA into something this country and its people can be proud of again.