Sangley Airport project proponents given fresh 4-week extension

The consortium of Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp. and China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC) were given more time by the provincial government of Cavite to comply with their post-qualification requirements for the Sangley Point International Airport project.

“We are setting the timeline for another four weeks,” Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla told GMA News Online in a text message.

“A lot of timelines had to be adjusted due to the pandemic,” Remulla explained.

In June, MacroAsia and CCCC were given 90 days to complete their submission of post-qualification requirements for the Sangley Airport project due to logistical constraints caused by pandemic quarantine restrictions locally and overseas.

The companies were awarded the P208.5-billion contract to develop the Sangley Airport into an international gateway in February.

“We are finalizing the joint venture agreement. It's the last step for financial conclusion,” Remulla said.

The Sangley International Airport project is a joint venture between the private sector and the Cavite provincial government. In such a set-up, the project does not need to secure the approval of other government agencies such as the National Economic and Development Authority.

The private partner will build the airport and the facilities, while the provincial government will reclaim and lease the land to the winning bidder.

Once the Joint Venture Development Agreement (JVDA) is signed, MacroAsia said it will take 12 to 18 months for the consortium to complete the detailed engineering design.

The expanded Sangley Airport will have four runways and will be able to accommodate up to 100 million passengers a year.

The project’s first phase involves the construction of a runway, connector road, and bridge to the Kawit segment of the CAVITEx.

The Cavite provincial government plans to have the Sangley International Airport partially operational by 2022, with full operations eyed in 2023.

The Palace had given the go-ahead for the project despite the United States' imposition of sanctions against Chinese firms associated with the building of artificial islands in the South China Sea, including several subsidiaries of CCCC. — DVM, GMA News