INFRASTRUCTURE work to improve to the country’s local and international airports are ongoing, but the Department of Transportation (DOTr) stopped short of promising that a new international gateway would open in Metro Manila before the term of President Duterte ends.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Trade Secretary Arthur P. Tugade listed the ongoing projects to improve airports, and proposals to open a new international gateway near the metropolis, but only confirmed that the new passenger terminal at the Clark International Airport would open by 2021. Duterte’s term of office ends in 2022.
Speaking in Filipino, he said, “The new terminal in Clark will be surely finished by 2021, and will be inaugurated by our President. It’s been awarded, the work has started, and by the end of July, the bidding for O&M [operations and maintenance] will take place. So it will be finished within the term of our President.”
The new Clark passenger terminal spans 100,000 square meters, including landside and airside facilities, and will be constructed at a cost of P9.4 billion. It will be able to accommodate an additional 8 million passengers, on top of the 4-million capacity at the existing terminal.
Tugade stood pat, however, on his decision to unbundle the regional airports-development project, to enable other proponents to participate. “It’s a security concern; do you want only one [company] to handle these airports?” he asked.
The P109-billion project, supposed to be undertaken as a public-private partnership scheme under the Aquino administration, was targeted at developing airports in Bacolod, Iloilo, Bohol, Laguindingan and Davao. In May 2017 the DOTr decided it would be more advantageous for the government to develop these airports using government funds, then bid out the O&M.
Tugade attended the interagency meeting hosted by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Fatima Romulo Puyat on June 22. He said: “This was an important experience. With the leadership of Secretary Puyat, you can see that all government agencies are all joined in its efforts to cooperate with the Department of Tourism.”
Experts have deemed it necessary that a new airport be constructed within Metro Manila or nearby provinces due to the limited runway capacity at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The Naia was constructed to service only 30 million passengers, a level exceeded in 2016 when passengers reached 40 million.
The National Economic and Development Authority board, chaired by Duterte, has already approved the P735-billion international airport project forwarded by San Miguel Corp., which will rise in Bulacan. Accorded “original proponent status,” the project will still be subject to a “Swiss challenge,” meaning other companies are welcome to meet and outdo the proposal of San Miguel, in an effort to get better terms for the government.
While no decision has been made on the proposed $12-billion international airport at Sangley Point, Cavite, forwarded by the consortium of the Solar and SM groups, Tugade said the government will definitely convert the existing Danilo Atienza Airbase at the former US naval facility to handle general aviation. This means private planes and charter operations will have to move from the Naia to Sangley, an idea earlier raised by the Aquino administration.
“While there is no decision yet on the project, improvements there will continue. There is an ongoing asphalt overlay and a plan to put up three or four hangars,” the DOTr chief stressed.
Aside from the Solar-SM consortium, the province of Cavite offered to develop Sangley Point as an international gateway to service Metro Manila and nearby provinces. The project aims to reclaim some 1,500 hectares of land, and with two proposed runways, be able to serve 130 million passengers a year by 2035.
Asked, however, if Duterte would be able to inaugurate a new airport to cater to the needs of Metro Manila and surrounding provinces, Tugade said, “Wait a minute. You’re putting a mouthful into my mouth. The Bulacan proponent said they will be able to finish one or two runways, right? In Sangley, for sure, it will be for general aviation. We’re already implementing the project and the infrastructure there. The President will inaugurate the Clark terminal. In the Naia, whether it will be the seven taipans or the government, we will finish the improvements and renovation there.”
A “super consortium” of the country’s major conglomerates has proposed a P350-billion project to upgrade the Naia, which includes expanding the current terminals, and construction of a new runway. The group is composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital, AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. (Zobel de Ayala), Alliance Global Group (Andrew Tan), Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp. (Lucio Tan), JG Summit Holdings Inc. (Gokongwei) and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (Pangilinan).
Tugade said, though, that the government work on the Naia will be more on the “improvement of facilities in terminals 1, 2, 3, and 4. Not a new terminal. Not a new runway.” At last week’s interagency meeting, the DOTr had also committed to put in new immigration booths at the Naia passenger terminals, as well as increase the number of night-rated domestic airports. (See, “Key Cabinet officials outline priorities to boost PHL tourism,” in the BusinessMirror, June 25, 2018.)