GMCAC ‘DESERVES’ RUNWAY PROJECT, TOO

IMPRESSED, DUTERTE PIPES UP ON PROPOSAL

This time last year, GMCAC submitted an unsolicited proposal to the transportation department to rehabilitate the current taxiways and runway, as well as build a parallel taxiway and second runway, then finally a third terminal.

President Rodrigo Duterte was so impressed by the new terminal he inaugurated last Thursday that he said the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) deserves to handle the second runway project.

The President said he was impressed by GMCAC’s track record, especially in building Terminal 2, which will start operating for international flights in July. It took GMCAC around three years to build the facility.

President Duterte, however, said he will leave it to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) under Secretary Arthur Tugade to decide on the implementation of Mactan Cebu International Airport’s (MCIA) second runway project.

A second runway was not among the deliverables when GMCAC, a consortium of Indian and Filipino companies, won in December 2013 the concession to upgrade the domestic terminal and build a second one in MCIA. Its 25-year concession began in November 2014 when it took over the management of the terminal.

In June last year, GMCAC gave the transportation department an unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate the existing taxi- and runways; build a parallel taxiway and a second runway; and construct a third terminal. Its officials said then that this would require the acquisition of more land in the first phase and a reclamation project for the second phase, when the second runway would be built.

25 more years

GMCAC also requested to extend its concession by another 25 years, for a total of 50.

MCIAA Assistant General Manager Glenn Napuli said that the proposal is now under evaluation by the National Economic and Development Authority’s Investment Coordinating Council (NEDA-ICC).

The proposal, like the current concession, also involves build-operate-and-transfer terms.

If approved by NEDA-ICC, it will be forwarded to the NEDA Board chaired by President Duterte for approval.

In a separate interview, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he believes that the new terminal would not have turned out so well if not for the criticisms he made four years ago.

“It’s one of the best I’ve seen. If they pursued that original plan, we would have had the ugliest airport. If I did not make that comment, I don’t think they would have changed it,” he told reporters yesterday.

In a December 2013 report, Osmeña, who was a private citizen at that time, urged officials behind the terminal project to rethink the design. He lamented that it was ugly and looked like a poultry farm. .

The mayor’s statement from several years ago resurfaced in an ad published in a local newspaper’s June 8 issue. A photo of the ad was posted by opposition-allied and outgoing Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman on his Facebook account.

It quoted Osmeña as saying: “I think they should transfer that (terminal) to Bantayan because it is where the poultry products are abundant.”

Beautiful

The ad compared Osmeña’s comment on the passenger terminal’s design with that of Rep. Raul del Mar’s statement released last month, commending the standards of Terminal 2. Osmeña and del Mar are Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan allies.

Osmeña agreed yesterday with President Duterte’s comment that Terminal 2 makes MCIA a “beautiful airport.”

“They are trying to pretend that’s their original design, but of course not. It’s nice, the one we have now. But if I did not pressure them, if they did not take up the challenge, we would have had the ugliest airport in the Philippines,” he said.

Except for opposition Councilor Joel Garganera, there were no other Cebu City officials in the inaugural ceremony last Thursday. Osmeña said he did not get an invitation to the event.