Project lacks Radaza endorsement, Lapu-Lapu delays MCIA expansion?

CEBU, Philippines - Will the city government of Lapu-Lapu be the cause of delay in the implementation of the P5.8-billion worth proposed New Mactan Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal building?

This question was raised during the second quarter meeting of the Infrastructure Development Committee of the Regional Development Council (RDC-IDC) yesterday after Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza requested to be given more time to come up with a resolution endorsing the project.

The Department of Transportation and Communications had written a letter to Radaza asking for an endorsement of the said project.

Valeriano “Bobit” Avila, one of the private sector representatives to the RDC-IDC, opined that MCIA is a government-owned controlled corporation, thus, there is no need for an endorsement.

“How long will Lapu-Lapu City study the project? Lapu-Lapu City is incompetent to study that project because that is not their job,” said Avila, a former RDC-IDC chairman.

IDC chairman Emmanuel Rabacal said that as of now, they are still waiting for the endorsement of the Lapu-Lapu City Development Council and as to when, that they do not know.

“What if Lapu-Lapu refuses to endorse the project for a flimsy reason? The PPP of Pnoy already approved this project. Mahug ta ani ug kataw-anan kung masangit lang sa city government sa Lapu-Lapu,” Avila said. (The President already approved this project and we would be the laughingstock if we allow it to be delayed by the city government.)

In order not to derail the project, NEDA regional director and RDC assistant chairman Buenaventura Gosoco said that they will seek dialogue with Radaza because delaying the project would mean serious economic implications.

The dialogue, Gosoco said, is a parallel initiative of IDC so that the project implementation would not be delayed.

Mayor Radaza’s spokesperson Jonjie Gonzales said that a letter was already sent to the Mactan Cebu International Airport so it could send representative to explain the details of the said project to the members of the city council during their regular session.

MCIA general manager Nigel Paul Villarete in a separate interview is optimistic that the city will schedule it as soon as possible as they are ready to present their presentation anytime.

Villarete said that the city government is “not averse on the project, but inclined to it.” For Villarete, the city just needs clarification on some issues like the scope of the project.

Avila added that there is an ongoing dispute between the city government and the airport’s management over payment of taxes.

Such issue, Avila said, could be used as leverage on the part of the city government against the latter to pay taxes immediately in exchange for the endorsement of the said project.

The IDC has already passed a resolution last March 16, recommending the RDC endorsement of the said project. However, such resolution was not included in the agenda of the RDC Full Council meeting last March 26 as the preprequisite Lapu-Lapu City Development Council endorsement was not available at the time of the meeting.

Villarete added that the airport expansion project is one of the priority projects under President Benigno Aquino III’s Public-Private-Partnership program.

Villarete said that the endorsement of RDC is essential before the documents of the project will be forwarded to NEDA within this month.

RDC is set to have a full council meeting this coming June 28. Villarete is hopeful that the city has already an endorsement of the project, which is necessary before RDC itself can endorse the project.

The proposed project has an indicative cost of US$135 million or P3.5 billion and would be implemented through PPP. The final cost of the project would be determined after PPP negotiations are concluded.

Earlier, Jaime Feliciano of the Department of Transportation and Communications said that their office normally funds the construction of airport projects around the country, and transfer the operations and maintenance of the same to the private sector.

But because of the high passenger count of MCIA, indicating a high potential for financial viability, DOTC lined up the terminal project for PPP implementation because they are confident that the private sector would be enticed to participate.

MCIA is already at 6.2 million passengers per annum as of 2011, but the airport has a design capacity of 4.5 million passengers per annum and still growing at an annual rate of about 15 percent. — /JPM (FREEMAN)