By James A. Loyola
Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corporation (CLC) of Davao tycoon Dennis A. Uy has submitted a P67 billion unsolicited Public - Private Partnership (PPP) proposal for the bundled development, operation and management and modernization of two of the country’s international airports – New Bohol (Panglao) and President Duterte’s hometown Davao City.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, CLC said the proposed unsolicited project has been filed with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) last February 5. CLC also sought for a concession period of 30 years. CLC owner Uy, a known friend of President Duterte, has been on a shopping spree for projects to invest in. These two international airports are its latest.
In its proposal, CLC seeks to operate and maintain all of the existing and project assets of the two airports while undertaking the necessary development works to meet future passenger and aircraft movements. This is with the exception of assets that will remain within the control of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
“We will modernize both Davao and Panglao international airports into world - class airports without government subsidy by implementing the development in three phases with an estimated total project cost of R67 billion,” said CLC President Chryss Alfonsus Damuy.
However, Damuy said that, “for economical viability of the project, the succeeding works after the development of Phase 1 shall be subject to the traffic growth requirements and compliance with the minimum performance standards.”
In DOTr’s recent acknowledgement letter, it stated that the Department is evaluating the unsolicited proposal as required under Republic Act 7718 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.
With the projected airport traffic growing to 8 to 15 million passengers in Davao and 1.5 to 2.1 million passengers in Panglao by 2050, CLC believes that bundling these two airports will create opportunities for improved domestic connectivity and international tourism city.
The planned reconfiguration and expansion of passenger terminal buildings are also expected to provide a new level of convenience and comfort to the passengers and airport users.
“If the government approves the CLC proposal in 2018, improvement of passenger experience and benefit to the community will start next year,” Damuy said.
Being Mindanao’s premier gateway, the Davao International Airport is targeted to be able to accommodate up to 30 hourly aircraft movements with the construction of a new full parallel taxiway providing improved airfield safety and efficiency.
By the end of the concession period, Davao International Airport’s cargo terminal will be almost three times of its current capacity to keep up with expected air freight demand, while Panglao International Airport’s facility will have expanded by 25 percent.
“We expect that the enhanced air cargo channels of these airports will translate to a considerable increase in the cargo movements in the region, consequently, benefitting the logistics business of CLC,” added Damuy.
“We ensure that every project we undertake is aligned with our goal to be the preferred end - to - end supply chain logistics service provider in the country, and which will as a result, generate more value for our stakeholders and improved outcomes for Filipinos.”