Chelsea submits proposal for Davao monorail

MANILA, Philippines — More unsolicited proposals from the country’s biggest corporations are being submitted to the government, with Dennis Uy’s Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. seeking to invest in a monorail system in Davao, and the Aboitiz Group looking to operate and maintain another regional airport.

Uy’s latest addition to his array of proposed mega-infrastructure investments for his hometown is an unsolicited offer to develop a monorail system, a project which President Duterte is strongly pushing for.

Duterte suggested last June that big cities such as Davao should have a monorail system to address traffic problems.

Meanwhile, the Aboitiz Group has submitted an unsolicited proposal to

operate and maintain the Laguindingan airport, after securing last month the original proponent status (OPS) for its offer to operate, maintain, and expand the Panglao International Airport.

Transportation Undersecretary for planning Ruben Reinoso told The STAR that the two projects are now being reviewed by his office.

No details of the said projects, however, were disclosed.

Chelsea is likely to gain headway for its proposal to operate and develop the Davao International Airport, which will entail investments of around P49 billion under a proposed 30-year concession period.

Aside from the airport and the monorail, the company also has a pending P11.2-billion unsolicited proposal to the Philippine Ports Authority for the modernization of the Sasa port in Davao City.

Meanwhile, the Aboitiz Group has secured last month the OPS for its unsolicited proposal to operate, maintain, and expand the Panglao International Airport.

In March, it submitted a P148-billion unsolicited proposal to develop four major regional gateways over a 35-year concession period. These included the Iloilo International Airport, Bacolod-Silay Airport, Laguindingan Airport and New Bohol International Airport in Panglao, which are all key entry points into the Visayas and northern Mindanao.

The proposal, however, was rejected by the DOTr due to a change in policy direction, and instead asked the groups to unbundle its proposal given that many of the airports can stand on their own.