Displaced laborers in North Harbor Monday appealed to President Benigno Aquino III to immediately conduct a probe on the alleged anomalous P14-billion redevelopment project of the harbor seeking to privatize the whole seaport.

The call was made by some 500 members of the United Dock Handlers Inc, North Star Development Corporation, Interport Stevedoring and Pier 8 Arrastre and Stevedoring Arrastre Services Company who trooped to North Harbor in Tondo, Manila at 8 a.m., Monday.

“It is time for P-Noy (President Noynoy) to fulfill his promise that he will study the supposed questionable transactions that the past administration made. If he remains true to his word, he will immediately look into the redevelopment project contract of North Harbor,” according to retired Leonardo Odoño, one of the maritime stakeholders in North Harbor and spokesman of the group.

Supt. Ernesto Tendero, station commander of Manila Police District-Station 2, reported that the on-going protest action in North Harbor has been generally peaceful as of press time.

Odoño claimed that the deal between the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and Manila North Harbor Port Inc. (MNHPI) consortium, composed of Harbour Center Port Terminals, Inc. (HCPTI) and Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC), was questionable since the latter was the only bidder for the redevelopment project.

The law, according to Odoño, provides that there should be at least two bidders in any government-related projects before the actual bidding takes place. “But in this case, the PPA declared a failure of bidding but the consortium went to court to stop this declaration. What is more surprising is that the PPA did not contest the court case and even entered a compromise agreement with the MNHPI consortium,” he stressed.

“It is the right of PPA to nullify the supposed bid of any bidder if there was only one qualifying bidder. Apparently, PPA continued with the bidding in exchange for the dropping of lawsuit of the consortium that the MNHPI filed against the agency,” Odoño added.

The group's spokesman also noted that the PPA allegedly failed to verify if the MNHPI had the capacity to stand by its responsibility and obligations under the contract it entered. “There is labor unrest over the loss of jobs and payment of separation benefits and serious concerns of shipping lines over the inadequacy of the MNHPI for the job of redeveloping North harbor,” he lamented.

Odoño even bared the supposed rift between the MPIC and HCPTI because of the alleged interest of the former to take over the reins of the contract that the consortium entered with the PPA sin e the latter allegedly had meager capability to implement its obligations under the redevelopment project.

“The PPA appears unable to break the impasse arising from the shareholders conflict. Meanwhile, the public is helplessly watching the privatization project stand still,” he claimed.