Sangley airport dev’t not a priority of Duterte admin — Pernia

MANILA, Philippines — The development of an international gateway in Sangley Point in Cavite province is not expected to be prioritized within the Duterte administration as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will still remain the premiere gateway along with two other airports within Mega Manila.

In a recent interview, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the rehabilitation of NAIA would be prioritized over the proposed airport in Sangley as it will also serve as a “fallback position” in the event of delays in the construction of San Miguel Corp.’s Bulacan airport which is set to undergo a Swiss challenge after approval by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board and the ongoing expansion of the Clark International airport in Pampanga.

“It’s a fallback position for us in case Bulacan, or whatever airport is delayed, then we still need NAIA,” said Pernia. “It’s some kind of insurance.”

The Department of Transportation (DOTR) is reviewing the proposals submitted by the Cavite provincial government for a $9.3-billion project to develop Sangley Point as an alternative gateway to NAIA. At the same time, the department has said it is open to revisiting the $12-billion unsolicited proposal of the Sangley Airport Infrastructure Group, Inc. (SAIG), a consortium of Solar Group’s Wilson Tieng and the SM group’s Henry Sy Sr.

These proposals, however, are not yet backed by complete feasibility studies and submission of other requirements, Pernia said.

“There are a couple of proposals in the works, but no feasibility study yet nor full submission of requirements,” he said.

With these considerations, Pernia said having four airports servicing Metro Manila would be an overcrowding.

“Well, it can only be a maximum of three airports. Because NAIA will be close to Sangley. They cannot operate at the same time,” he said.

“The proponent of Sangley will also have to do calculations if it’s going to be beneficial for them even with the existence of two big airports,” he said.

SMC’s proposed P735.63-billion gateway in Bulacan involves the construction of a terminal, parallel runways and an airport toll road. The whole project will cover around 2, 500 hectares of which 1, 168 hectares will be an airport complex, while the remaining 1, 332 hectares will serve as a city complex. The gateway is expected to be completed in six years upon approval, servicing 100 million passengers annually.

The project was approved by the NEDA Board in April.

The DOTR is also reviewing unsolicited proposals of Megawide Construction Corp. and rival Naia Consortium for the rehabilitation of NAIA.