DOTr to firm up plans for Sangley airport

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) plans to iron out with the provincial government of Cavite details of the LGUs plan to develop an international airport in Sangley, as the agency wants something firmed up from the proponent by next month.

This comes after significant progress has been made last week over discussions on the concession agreement for the Bulacan international airport project of San Miguel Corp.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade told The STAR that he is set to meet with representatives from the provincial government of Cavite this week for “informal talks.”

“We will meet to firm up details. We will discuss the terms of references and what the concession agreement would be,” Tugade said.

Tugade said he wants a plan firmed up already by next month.

“I want it to be finished, all of that, by the end of the year. I am giving them a resolution until the end of the year. I am not saying to have a deadlock within the year,” he said.

A deadlock on the government-to-government deal for the Sangley airport could give a private sector unsolicited proposal a chance to take over the project, Tugade said.

Tugade last week said he is open to discussing other proposals, including the one previously submitted by the Tieng-led All Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. (ARRC), should there be no progress with the Cavite provincial government’s proposal.

ARRC submitted last March a $12-billion proposal to finance, construct and develop a new airport to be called Philippine Sangley International Airport in Sangley, Cavite.

The proposal seeks to make a regional airport hub which could accommodate about 120 million passengers per year, entailing an investment of $12 billion for development cost alone and a concession period of 50 years.

The project would begin with the reclamation of about 2,500 hectares of land north of the Sangley peninsula which will be used for the development of airport infrastructure and a commercial establishment.

The proposal, however, was set aside due to the Cavite government’s offer, which was preferred by the DOTr and was given the original proponent status last July.

As for the P735 billion New Manila International Airport project in Bulacan province of San Miguel, Tugade said last week that the DOTr would issue this week a certificate of successful negotiation after the proponent, courtesy of its president Ramon S. Ang, decided to absorb costs for securing necessary local government permits and right-of-way acquisitions as part of the concession agreement.

Both the Bulacan and Sangley airport projects are part of the DOTr’s multi-airport strategy to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila which serves as the country’s main international gateway.