Belmonte supports probe on Mactan airport project delay

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. supported yesterday the inquiry sought by eight Cebu congressmen on the delay in the implementation of the expansion and modernization of the Mactan international airport.

“We will conduct the inquiry. We will give it priority. This is an important project,” he said.

Deputy majority leader and Quezon City Rep. Jorge Banal, who sits in the rules committee, said the two resolutions introduce by Cebu lawmakers had been referred to the committee on transportation.

He said he agrees with his colleagues that implementation of the Mactan airport expansion and modernization project should be expedited.

“Like them, I am interested in knowing what are the problems holding up project implementation and how these could be resolved,” he said.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said the inquiry is timely for the sake of transparency and accountability.

“In the spirit of transparency and accountability, I am very much willing to support the resolutions calling for the investigation of the Cebu-Mactan airport,” he said.

After several months of preparation, including the technical prequalification of seven prospective bidders from the private sector, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) opened the financial bids for the project last Dec. 12.

The tandem of Megawide Construction Corp., a Philippine Stock Exchange-listed entity, and Bangalore, India-based GMR Airports Ltd. submitted the highest offer of a P14.404-billion payment for the right to undertake the project.

However, project awarding has since been deferred, following a complaint lodged by the second-highest bidder, the tandem of Filinvest Development Corp., also a PSE-listed entity, and Changi Airports MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Pte Ltd., which offered P13.999 billion.

The eight Cebu lawmakers led by Gerard Anthony Gullas want the House committees on good government and transportation to look into the “unwarranted delay” in the execution of the project.

“We want the (delay) resolved right away, so that the national government may finally receive the multibillion-peso payment for the right to perform the project,” Gullas said.

He said the payment is on top of the billions of pesos that the final project awardee is anticipated to spend in order to build a new world-class international terminal capable of handling eight million passengers every year; enlarge and modernize the existing terminal, which will be converted into a completely domestic passenger-only station; and install all the required equipment.

The awardee is also expected to run both the new and existing terminals for up to 25 years, he said.

“We wish for the project to be carried out as soon as possible, as we are counting on it to help propel Cebu’s economic and jobs growth in a big way in the months ahead,” he added.

“Immediately, we see the project generating thousands of construction-related jobs that will directly benefit low-income households in Cebu. Once completed, we are also very hopeful that the bigger terminals will permanently employ more Cebuanos,” Gullas said.

He said the new facilities would considerably stimulate travel and leisure-related industries throughout Central Visayas.