Bicol airport project faces 3-year delay – lawmakers

MANILA, Philippines – Congressmen from the Bicol region decried yesterday the projection of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) that the completion of the Bicol International Airport in Daraga, Albay would be delayed by three years.

Reps. Cesar Sarmiento of Catanduanes, Rodel Batocabe of Ako Bicol party-list, and Fernando Gonzales and Al Francis Bichara of Albay said the three-year delay is not consistent with the daang matuwid (straight path) and good governance advocacy and policies of President Aquino.

They said Aquino had promised that the airport project would be completed before his term ends on June 30, 2016.

“The long delay will hurt the economic and tourism potentials not only of Albay but of the entire Bicol region,” Batocabe said.

The congressmen learned from DOTC project engineer Raul Basalote that the Bicol airport’s Package 2A, which covers construction of landside facilities, has been bid out in January this year and is targeted for completion within 24 months.

To date, however, the package has not been awarded by DOTC, which has disqualified the winning bidder during the post-qualification stage. The case is under reconsideration.

On the other hand, Package 2B covers the construction of the passenger terminal building and runway extension to 2,500 meters. It has duration of three years, Basalote said.

“Is the DOTC telling us that the international airport in Daraga is going to be completed in 2018 or 2019? Is that the new estimated completion of this airport?” Gonzalez asked.

DOTC undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, who chairs the agency’s bids and awards committee, assured lawmakers that he would reconvene the technical working group to review the motion for reconsideration submitted by a disqualified bidder.

“We will resolve the motion for reconsideration tomorrow,” he said during the hearing.

Sarmiento, who chairs the House committee on transportation, said his panel is relying on Lotilla’s assurance that the post-qualification issue would be resolved at the soonest possible time so the project could finally push through.

Bichara expressed concern that work on the airport might be covered by the election-related construction ban unless the DOTC speeds up its bidding processes for the project.

The ban would result in further delay, he said.

Batocabe said the DOTC cannot simply proceed with the bidding for Package 2B without first resolving the issues confronting Package 2A.

“The DOTC can’t immediately proceed with the next phase (Package 2B) because part of Package 2A includes land clearing operations in areas where the passenger terminal building would be built. In other words, we first need to finish Package 2A before DOTC can proceed with Package 2B,” he said.