Govt to review regional airports’ feasibility studies

THE government has to review the feasibility studies for four regional airports in the Philippines before bidding them out in 2018 for operation and maintenance (O&M), according to a Department of

Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Tamayo said the construction for the airports would be funded either through official development assistance or the general appropriations act (GAA) or the national budget, and the O&M contract would be bid out to the private sector.

“We have to review the feasibility studies...Hopefully next year,” Tamayo said in response to a query on the timeline for the bid out of the airports.

“We only have four. Panglao is no longer included. We will have Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod and Laguindingan,” according to Tamayo.

Tamayo said that the Panglao airport would be turned over to the private sector early next year, after the construction funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The DOTr said earlier the Panglao airport would be ready in August 2018.

“We will turn over Panglao next year. That’s already delayed. It should have been done a long time ago,” Tamayo said.

“The O&M people will be there as bidder,” according to Tamayo.

Earlier this year, the DOTr or from the pipeline of public-private partnership projects, and instead

“Doing the airports on GAA makes the project cheaper as the cost of money is lower, thus more faster, and help avoid legal surprises that may cause regrettable delay,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade earlier said.