The Transportation Department said Monday it asked the provincial government of Cavite to revise and improve its proposal for the Sangley Point International Airport after the agency’s legal experts claimed the provincial government lacked the technical capability to undertake the P552-billion project.
“We are not rejecting the proposal of the provincial government of Cavite to develop the Sangley Airport. The memorandum signed by our legal team was made to express our legal opinion on the draft MOA [memorandum of agreement] itself,” the DOTr said in statement.
“We are just asking the Cavite government to refine the MOA, so as to reflect all the necessary details, such as the project’s funding source, and proof of the proponent’s technical capability to handle and implement the project. If such details are clarified, the draft MOA may be resubmitted for review and evaluation,” it said.
The agency’s Office of the Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Procurement, along with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs and the Legal Service, issued a memorandum on June 15, asking the department to refrain from signing an agreement with the Cavite provincial government on the proposed international airport.
The memo was in response to the request of Transportation Undersecretary for planning and project development Ruben Reinoso Jr. for a legal opinion of the proposed memorandum of agreement for the project.
The DOTr memorandum was signed by Transportation Undersecretary for legal affairs and procurement Reinier Paul Yebra, assistant secretary for legal affairs Mark Steven Pastor and assistant secretary for procurement and chief of the DOTr legal service Giovanni Lopez.