Work ongoing for new Dumaguete, Zamboanga, Siargao airports — DoTr

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) is looking to develop six greenfield airports, including ongoing projects in Zamboanga, Dumaguete, and Siargao.

Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said at an aviation forum that preliminary work is ongoing for those three airports, including land acquisition activities.

New airports are also being studied for Masbate, Naga, and Pangasinan, he added.

“For the greenfield airports that we are planning, one is Zamboanga airport. We will move the Zamboanga Airport from its present location to a location 15 kilometers away,” Mr. Bautista said.

Land acquisition for the Zamboanga airport is expected to take between two and three years, Mr. Bautista said, with construction to last another five years.

“We’re already working on land acquisition,” he said.

The development of Dumaguete airport, meanwhile, will be expedited by a funding deal reached with the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank), Mr. Bautista said.

The Department of Finance (DoF) signed a P13.15-billion loan agreement with Korea Eximbank to finance the new Dumaguete airport.

The DoTr is also working to complete land acquisition for the Dumaguete project, which will rise on a 197.55-hectare site in Bacong, Negros Oriental.

“We signed a loan agreement with the DoF a month ago. And we’re now fast-tracking the acquisition of the land. We have downloaded funds to the municipal government of Bacong so they can continue land acquisition,” he said. 

Mr. Bautista said the department is also looking at the development of a new Siargao airport.

Mr. Bautista said the DoTr is now working with various local government units (LGUs) in Siargao to bring the project forward.

“All these will take maybe three to five years for us to implement. In the meantime, we are in the process of expanding and modernizing all the other airports in the country,” he said. 

Regional airport modernization will be pursued alongside the privatization of Laguindingan International Airport in Northern Mindanao and the New Bohol-Panglao International Airport, he said.

“For the privatization of other airports, we are now working closely with the ADB (Asian Development Bank) World Bank, and the IFC (International Finance Corp.),” he said.

Projects to be pursued as public-private partnerships (PPPs) next year are the modernization and rehabilitation of airports in Basco, Batanes; Busuanga, Coron, Palawan; Cauayan City, Isabela; Tuguegarao City, Cagayan; Bacolod City; Calbayog and Catbalogan Samar; Catarman, Northern Samar; Ormoc, Leyte; Davao City; General Santos City and Surigao City.

The ADB is assisting the DoTr in evaluating how to proceed with upgrading, expanding or constructing the airport projects, he said.

The DoTr has just completed its biggest PPP project, the takeover of the San Miguel-led New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. of the operations and maintenance of Ninoy Aquino International Airport starting Sept. 14.

The deal was touted as the fastest PPP project to progress from submission to investment coordination committee approval to concession agreement signing. — Ashley Erika O. Jose