Tomas says terminal project shoots down airport transfer

With the multi-billion peso passenger terminal project pushing through, any plan to transfer the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to Cordova town can be considered “good as dead.”

Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district, who lobbied for the airport transfer, said the P10.15 billion terminal expansion project is a costly investment by the national government.

“If the expansion pushes through, it will no longer feasible to tear it down and transfer to Cordova town (at least in the next 30 years)…. If we transfer (the airport) to Cordova this (expansion project) will already be useless,” he said in a press conference.

Ayala and Aboitiz have  joined forces to propose a joint veture to bid for the terminal project. General manager Paul Villarete of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIA) said it won’t affect  Osmeña’s proposal to move location to Cordova.

He said the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) still has to study the congressman’s airport transfer proposal which already drew  letters off interest from potential  investors like SM Prime Holdings.

Still, Osmeña warned that the national government’s decision to keep MCIA at its present location could mean that other provinces could catch up to Cebu.

“We have to watch out or we will lose to Bohol, Boracay and Palawan,” he said.

President Benigno Aquino III announced he would push on with the planned international airport in Panglao in Bohol Province in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) this year.  He also mentioned transfering the Boracay airport to Caticlan for its upgrade into an international airport.

“If we stay put, we will be left behind because everybody else is already moving (into better locations),” Osmeña said.

He said the new airport administration building wasn’t completed  because it occupies a private lot.

Osmena earlier proposed a transfer of the MCIA to Cordova town  for expansion by reclaiming part of the  shallow waters of Shell Island.

He said a portion of the Pilipog River may also be used as part of the runway to save on the cost of lot expropriation.

The other aim of the  transfer was to  decongest Metro Cebu’s traffic.

The congressman said  selling  the MCIA lot would bring in  more than enough revenue to cover the transfer and reclamation of Cordova for the airport site.

Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy supported Osmeña’s proposal.

Villarete said a transfer was a long-term prospect but that the terminal expansion project is needed now to help the MCIA accommodate the projected seven million passenger mark this year.

In an email to Cebu Daily News, Villarete said the concession period for the winning bidder of the airport terminal project will cover 10 to 20 years depending on the final outcome of the structure/business case approved by the DOTC. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief of Reporters