Cavite gov’t wants international consortium to operate Sangley airport

The provincial government of Cavite wants an international consortium to operate and maintain its flagship Sangley Point International Airport project to ensure that the gateway meets world-class standards.

In an interview over the weekend, Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla said that the operations and maintenance (O&M) would undergo a separate bidding but it has to happen while the builder plans the project.

“As soon as we start the airport, the O&M contract has to be discussed because the O&M operator has to be in the final design. How they prefer the layout… lahat yan. We have to get it right away. It cannot retrofit, the O&M operator, dapat sabay sila sa plano,” Remulla said, noting that the provincial government is targeting to award the O&M contract by third quarter of 2020.

The Cavite provincial government awarded the contract for the phase 1 of the Sangley Point International Airport Project to the consortium of Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp. and China Communications Construction Co. Ltd.

The project’s first phase involves the construction of a runway, connector road and bridge to the Kawit segment of CAVITEx.

The Cavite provincial government targets the Sangley International Airport to partially operate in 2022. The full operability is eyed in 2023.

Asked if the MacroAsia-CCCC consortium can bid for the O&M of the Sangley airport, Remulla said, “No, we are inclined to give it to someone else.”

“We wanted it to be an international consortium... Because the new technology and the systems design of the airport is very complicated,” he said.

However, the Cavite governor said that a Philippine group can still apply for the O&M. “It’s not closed,” he said.

Remulla also noted that the Cavite provincial government will inhibit from the Sangley airport project once it turned over the joint venture to the private sector.

“Once we turnover the joint venture, we have voluntarily inhibited ourselves from participating in the bids and awards. Because number one, I don’t want to be asked any favors,” he said.

The Sangley International Airport project is a joint venture between the private sector and the local government unit of Cavite. In such a set-up, the project does not need to secure the approval of other government agencies such as the National Economic and Development Authority.

The private partner will build the airport and the facilities, while the provincial government will reclaim and lease the land to the winning bidder.

The Cavite government originally intended to do the project on its own. But Remulla said the “government bidding process is too cumbersome so we would rather that they lease the land from us and they put up an airport company before. Everything would be private.”

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) took over Sangley Airport’s construction after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered to have the project completed by November 2019 to ease congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The government tapped Unimaster Conglomeration Inc. as contractor for P486.028 million.

Remulla said MacroAsia-CCCC consortium needs to reimburse or buy the existing Sangley Airport from the DOTr before it can commence construction works.

There has been renewed interest in building airports outside of Metro Manila, as NAIA—the country’s premier gateway—has reached overcapacity.

Currently serving at least 42 million passengers, the four NAIA terminals were designed to accommodate 31 million passengers a year. —LDF, GMA News