The Cavite provincial government plans to issue P200 billion worth of bonds to raise funds for the proposed international airport in Sangley Point and meet the Transportation Department’s deadline to resolve its financial issue.
“We’re looking towards a bond float to start everything out with the province as one of the initiators of the bond float. We are looking towards a local consortium,” Cavite Governor Jesus Crispin Catibayan Remulla said.
“Initially, we’re looking at P200 billion. It should be enough,” he said.
The Cavite provincial government’s planned bond float came after the National Economic Development Authority returned its unsolicited proposal over the alleged unclear implementing arrangement for the project.
“We are pursuing all avenues possible to make the airport push through,” Remulla said.
He said, however, the Cavite provincial government might not meet the June 2019 deadline set by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on the submission on the new unsolicited proposal for Sangley international airport.
“I’m not sure. We are doing everything right now to be able to comply with the requirement and we have to respect the secretary,” Remulla said.
“We cannot just submit something that is not thoroughly vetted out. You have to really prepare properly and the first thing that comes to mind is the financial framework necessary for this to happen,” he said.
Remulla, who will be leaving his office by June 30, claims his successor would definitely push through with Sangley airport.
Remulla’s brother Jonvic Remulla is running for governor of Cavite and will face former governor Erineo Maliksi.
The Cavite provincial government submitted to Neda the full feasibility study for the project on Dec. 17, 2018. Sangley International Airport is expected to cost more than P500 billion.
The planned Sangley airport can initially accommodate 50 million passengers.
Tugade earlier said he would keep his options open for Sangley, adding that there was a similar unsolicited proposal from Solar Group’s All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. which was submitted to the department in 2016.
The AARC unsolicited proposal to build the Philippine Sangley International Airport was estimated to cost $12 billion.
A crucial portion of the ARRC development plan is the rehabilitation of the Danilo Atienza Air Base and its transformation into a general aviation airport that can serve as an emergency alternative to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport during the project development phase.
ARRC proposed a concession period of 50 years for the Sangley International Airport.
Under the proposal, the project will start with the reclamation of about 2,500 hectares of land north of the Sangley peninsula which will be used for the development of the airport infrastructure and a commercial establishment to complement the project.
Sangley airport would be designed with two parallel runways and sufficient airside and terminal capacity to accommodate future demand for the domestic and the international traffic, not only for the Philippines but also for Southeast Asia.