MANILA (UPDATE) - The Filipino Indian consortium seeking to rehabilitate the Philippines' main gateway confirmed on Tuesday that the government has turned down its appeal to keep the group's original proponent status (OPS).

Megawide-GMR disclosed to the stock exchange that the Board of Directors of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) denied its motion for reconsideration seeking to overturn the revocation of the consortium's OPS.

"The Consortium was formally informed of the said denial through a letter from the Corporate Secretary of the MIAA Board of Directors dated 25 January 2021," Megawide said.

An OPS means that a company is the prime bidder and gets to match the counteroffer submitted by competitors, and thus bag a project.

Megawide insisted that it met all the requirements of the government for the project, but added that it respects the decision, and is "ready to move on to other projects of equal significance."

It was earlier reported that Megawide's bid was rejected over concerns that it did not have enough equity to finance the project.

Megawide said it submitted new documents earlier this year to back up its claim that it has enough financial muscle to do the heavy lifting for the airport's upgrade.

• Megawide appeals to restore original proponent status for NAIA rehab

This was the second proposal for the rehabilitation of NAIA that the government turned down.

Last year, the government also revoked the OPS it granted to a consortium made up of the country's biggest conglomerates after the group asked for changes to the terms of their bid citing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air travel.

Earlier this year, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the government itself may undertake the rehabilitation of NAIA following 2 failed bids for the project.

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