DoTr will decide regional airports proposed by the third quarter

By Denise A. Valdez

The Department of Transportation (DoTr) has stated that it could decide in the third quarter whether it would it is appropriate to grant the status of original promoter to the three companies planning to develop, operate and manage regional airports, all of which have resubmitted their proposals earlier this year.

Under Secretary of Transport for Aviation Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo said the review of proposals submitted by Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. (CLC), Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. and Mega7 Construction Corp. are now in an advanced stage. They propose to build respectively the Davao International Airport, the New Bohol International Airport (Panglao) and the Kalibo International Airport. Lalo Davao Minamadali natin . [Third quarter] I hope Sabay-sabay with Bohol, Kalibo. Lahat Advanced na (We try to speed up Davao [Third quarter] hopefully, with Bohol and Kalibo, all are in advanced phase), "Ruben S. Reinoso, Jr. said that the CLC and Aboitiz InfraCapital had originally submitted four bundled proposals for several regional airports, but the DoTr had recommended that they resubmit separately to avoid "monopolizing"

Dennis A. Uy's CLC chose to resubmit his proposal for the first time. Davao Airport, while Aboitiz InfraCapital took Bohol Airport.

For Mr. Mega7, Mr. Reinoso stated that the first proposal of the group concerned Kalibo Airport. rejected in March for lack of information, hence the need for a new submission, which now has complete documentation.

"We are looking at the proposal, we are looking at the numbers and we are looking at the performance of [the airports] wh en [the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines]." If, at the net present value, they give us a better offer than the government of [with] then we will return it, "he said.

Reinoso also said that for airports without unsolicited proposals such as Iloilo, Bacolod and Laguindingan, it is likely that the DoTr will have to bid for contracts to their expansion, their operations and their management.

"But now we focus on all those unsolicited kasi" can establish a calendar yon (because they have a schedule), "he said.

Tamayo said the call for bids for airports is set" as soon as possible ", but some feasibility studies can be redone because that the information is no longer relevant. 19659003] He noted that in a year or two, airports can be filled when demand for movement increases. For example, the new Puerto Princesa airport is close to overcapacity after it opened for commercial use last year, he added.