The Department of Transportation said it turned down the proposal of Solar Group’s All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. to develop an international airport in Sangley Point, Cavite.
“We have rejected that [Solar Group’s unsolicited proposal] because the provincial government came to us that they would like to implement it. We already sent a notice to Solar,” Transportation Undersecretary for Planning Reuben Reinoso said.
Sangley Airport Infrastructure Group Inc., a consortium led by Solar Group’s All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp., submitted an unsolicited proposal to build the Philippine Sangley International Airport for $12 billion.
Another crucial portion of the ARRC development plan is the rehabilitation of Danilo Atienza Air Base which will be later used as a general aviation airport to decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals during the project development phase.
The rehabilitation of Danilo Atienza Air Base will complement the Naia, which is also subject of a proposed rehabilitation and expansion by Naia Consortium which is composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., AEDC, Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
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 airport infrastructure and a commercial establishment to complement the project.
Under the ARRC proposal, Sangley airport would be designed with two parallel independent 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.
Reinoso said the National Economic and Development Authority returned to the provincial government of Cavite its unsolicited proposal to build a new international airport in Sangley, Cavite because of an unclear implementing arrangement for the project.
“They submitted to Neda, but the Neda returned it to the Cavite government last January. Neda is asking the Cavite government what’s their legal basis,” Reinoso said.
“Neda wants to clarify what’s the implementing arrangement and what’s the legal basis? Is it a joint venture or is it a BOT [build-operate-transfer] law? They said government to government. What’s the meaning of the government to government? Is it the provincial government and the government of China? They need to clarify it to Neda,” Reinoso said.
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 legal department of DOTr earlier issued a memorandum on June 15 last year, asking the department to refrain from signing an agreement with the Cavite provincial government on the proposed international airport.
The legal department cited the lack of technical and financial capability of the Cavite provincial government to implement an international airport development project.
