Iloilo Mayor Jerry Trenas urged the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to expedite the privatization and improvement of the Iloilo International Airport and the Iloilo International port located in Lapuz.

According to the Iloilo Local Development Council (LDC), the privatization of the air and water transport would be the most efficient way to expand, improve, and develop the two because it would lessen the government’s financial burden.

In line with the up-scale of city’s economic standing, the LDC stated that Iloilo will also need to cater the growing demand for passengers, aircraft and cargo since the city has become a hotspot for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE).

Because funding constrains have a possibility to hinder the development of the port and airport, the government believed public-private partnerships (PPP) was the solution to the advancement.

To magnify the government’s needs for improvement, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) — Iloilo Airport reported 2,550 passenger arrivals, and 2,876 departures in the month of September.

In comparison, the main terminal of the airport can only accommodate 400 to 450 passengers on a daily basis.

The CAAP also wrote the air traffic was estimated at 25 aircraft arrivals and 25 departures.

Meanwhile, Trenas awaits the development, operation, and maintenance of the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex (ICPC), however the endorsement for these actions have yet to be approved.

“Like the port, since it was developed in the 70s, no additional improvements were put in… And there are now several interests coming from [3 or 4] international shipping lines. So the port redevelopment is really needed because the Iloilo is a major port in region 6,” he stressed.

The Executive Committee of the Iloilo LDC endorsed an unsolicited proposal of the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to privatize the port.

“Before I came in as Mayor in 2019, there was already an offer by the ICTSI,” said Trenas.

He added that the company proposed to convert the terminals into container ports and improve their berthing facilities.

The ICTSI is responsible for building and operating efficient and sustainable gateway terminals that manages international containerized dry cargoes, containerized refrigerated and non-containerized cargoes.

“At the moment, only 5 domestic vessels can dock and only 1 international vessel can dock at the same time,” said the City Mayor. “Hopefully, after two public hearings by the Philippine Ports Authority [PPA], the port development will now move.”

Trenas, who is also the Chairman of the Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) of the Regional Development Council (RDC) sought their prioritized fund allocation for the international port development.

The letter of request was sent to General Manager Jay R. Santiago of Philippine Ports Authority 6.

To further justify the importance of facility improvements, it was stated that the Iloilo City International Port accounted for the highest economic growth rate for Western Visayas, beating all regions at 9.3 percent.

To compare, 7.2 percent is the average rate for the national economic growth. 

At this rate, Iloilo will have to accommodate the growing number of container ships and international sea vessels at the ICPC. (Gabriell Christel Galang)