Duterte expected in Cebu on Thursday

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected in Cebu on Thursday for the blessing and inauguration of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal 2 in Lapu-Lapu City, said Philippine Information Agency-7 Director Fayette Riñen.

Riñen said the details of the president’s visit will be announced during the media briefing tomorrow. It is Duterte’s second visit to Cebu in less than a month.

The president was in Cebu last May 19 and 20 when he inaugurated the oilfields in Alegria, Cebu. He also attended the opening of the Philippine National Games in Cebu City as well as the town fiesta of Tabogon.

The GMR-Megawide, which operates the Mactan Cebu International Airport, said the construction of the new world-class passenger terminal building or the MCIA Terminal 2 is meant to improve the passenger traffic. It is expected to translate to a more robust tourism environment in the region.

The Terminal 2 will increase passenger capacity to 12.5 million. The new terminal spanning 65,500 square meters will not only lessen congestion but will offer an exciting and wideranging retail environment.

In fact, business leaders in Cebu foresee MCIA to be at par with modern Asian airports, such as those of Singapore and Hong Kong, with its new terminal. In an earlier report, Cebu Business Club president Gordon Allan Joseph believes that the modern terminal will help the overall economy.

GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation, the consortium between Philippine firm Megawide Construction and Indiabased GMR Infrastructure Ltd, won in 2014 the 25-year public private partnership contract to build, operate and maintain the new MCIA terminal for some P17.52 billion.