Airport projects to take ‘back seat’ to Sangley, Clark
UNSOLICITED Proposals for various airport projects will have to take a back seat as the government prioritizes development of the Sangley and Clark airports to immediately decongest the country’s main gateway.
Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo said the government is spending around P600 to P700 million for the Sangley Airport development and it will also start building a new passenger terminal at the Pampanga airport this year, implementing the Aeroports de Paris masterplan prepared for Clark International Airport (CIA) in 2015.
“[For Sangley] the DoTr (Department of Transportation) and CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) will develop that, we have a go-signal there, we’ll be spending about P600 to P700 million for Sangley with no reclamation, no seaport,” Mr. Tamayo told reporters in a recent interview.
“[It’s for] general aviation and then if we can decrease the aircraft operating there, if we will remove the turboprops from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), and put them in Sangley.”
Mr. Tamayo, a former CAAP official, said proposals from the country’s biggest conglomerates to participate in the development of the aviation sector — either to build new airports or develop existing ones — “are still being considered but not immediate.”
The Tieng- Sy consortium earlier proposed a $ 50- billion project to develop an airport and economic zone at Sangley Point involving the transfer of both general aviation and low-cost carriers to the base.
“It’s still there, being considered, but it’s not immediate, it’s more of medium term. What we need is short- term, things that can be implemented right away to decongest NAIA, since that’s our main problem,” the DoTr off icial said when asked for comment on the status of the proposal now that the government decided to pursue the development on its own.
At Clark, Mr. Tamayo said the government will start building a new passenger terminal to expand its capacity.
The government has been promoting Clark as an alternative gateway to help decongest NAIA which has been reporting passenger traffic well above its capacity. In 2016 for example, NAIA reported that it handled 39.5 million passengers, against its rated capacity of 30.5 million.
“We’re building a new terminal right away in Clark. Everything is there already — a runway, taxiways, ramps for parking, it’s fully instrumented, all we need is a new passenger terminal. It’s a priority project, we’ll start this year,” Mr. Tamayo said.
“[The unsolicited proposal for Clark] will also have to take a back seat, because the direction now is [funding] through GAA ( general appropriations act) or ODA (official development assistance), the government has the money, so that’s how it will be developed,” he added.
The government, which has made infrastructure its priority, has said it will reduce the use of public-private partnership (PPP) procurement which it says takes too long to implement. Instead, it prefers projects to be funded internally or through ODA or a mixture of these modes.
Aside from the All-Asia Resources & Reclamation Corp., and the Sy family’s Belle Corp.’s proposal to redevelop the airport in Sangley, another group led by San Miguel Corp.’s Ramon S. Ang earlier proposed a $10-billion airport on reclaimed land in Manila Bay.
The Filinvest Group and JG Summit Holdings, Inc. also submitted a P186.64- billion unsolicited proposal for the expansion and development of Clark. GMR- Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), which currently operates the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, also submitted a proposal last year to develop Clark.
“It’s still there, they are still accepting proposals but it has to take a back seat. First things first; we need to improve NAIA and we need to improve Clark,” Mr. Tamayo said.
The government’s planned P74.56- billion NAIA Development Project, under the PPP initiative, was also put on hold as Transportation authorities consolidate proposals in order to make airport decongestion efforts more coherent.
It also terminated the PPP mode of procurement for the regional airport projects — Ba-colod-Silay, Davao, Iloilo, Laguindingan in northern Mindanao and Bohol (Panglao) worth a total of P108.18 billion — deciding they would be implemented through GAA and ODA instead.
The International Air Transport Association has urged the government to come up with a master plan for the country’s aviation sector — either to build another gateway or maximize other airports outside Metro Manila — in order to boost aviation’s contribution to the Philippine economy. —