MANILA, Philippines – The Investment Coordination Committee- Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom) of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has approved the expansion of passenger capacity of the Clark International Airport with a revised financing mode.
NEDA Undersecretary for Investment Programming Rolando Tungpalan said the ICC CabCom resolved to revert to its original approval of expanding the airport’s capacity to eight million passengers annually from the capacity expansion of only five million approved by the NEDA Board during the Aquino administration.
The proposal was put forward during last week’s ICC-CabCom meeting by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) which regained control of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) in February.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr), however, still has supervisory function over airport policies and operations.
“This time around, because of the increased flights in Clark, both domestic and international, they (BCDA) have requested the ICC to allow them to go back to the (expansion proposal of) eight million passengers per annum,” Tungpalan said.
The airport currently services 4.2 million passengers annually, both bound for domestic and international destinations.
The capacity expansion entails the construction of a new passenger terminal that would cost around P2.8 billion. Under the original plan the funds would be sourced from government appropriations but the ICC decided it would be more feasible if the BCDA – through a combination of loan and equity – would handle the funding requirements.
“The other thing that was approved was the shift in financing to pure BCDA because it can finance it by itself. There can be (a mix of) borrowing and equity,” he added.
Prior to the submission of the proposal to the NEDA Board for final approval, the ICC-CabCom asked BCDA and CIAC to assess the fiscal impact and the financial viability of the proposed capacity expansion.
22 May 2017
By Czeriza Valencia
