BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The proposal to rehabilitate and operate the Iloilo Airport will undergo procedures under Republic Act 11966 or the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code of the Philippines, said Mayor Jerry Treñas.
“I am happy that the interest of the Villar group is now moving forward,” said Treñas.
He was reacting to the report of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) that they started evaluating the unsolicited proposal of Prime Asset Ventures Inc. (PAVI), the holding company of the group of real estate magnate and former senator Manuel B. Villar Jr.
Enrique Antonio Esquivel III, DOTr assistant secretary for aviation and airport, informed the mayor of the update letter dated May 6.
“I have always believed that PPP is the way to go for certain areas in our governance, and the airports are one of them,” said Treñas.
Apart from the Villar Group, Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. and Megaworld also expressed their interest in rehabilitating and operating the Iloilo airport.
“The procedures under the new PPP law will have to be followed. Hopefully, as indicated in the letter of DOTr by the first quarter of 2025, the whole PPP process will have been completed. I support it 120 percent,” said Treñas.
The “negotiation” period is expected to be completed within 80 calendar days but may be extended up to 150 days.
Esquivel said the DOTr, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and the Public Private Partnership (PPA) Center intend to complete the negotiation before the deadline.
Once the negotiations are completed, the project proposal will be submitted to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and the CAAP Board for approval before undergoing a Swiss challenge.
Esquivel’s letter came after Treñas renewed his call to Bautista to hasten processes for the development or privatization of Iloilo airport.
He also called on the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to explain what happened to the P190 million Sen. Grace Po allocated to the agency to repair the airport’s facilities last year.
The Villar group has submitted an unsolicited proposal for the operation, maintenance, and expansion of the Iloilo airport as early as 2018. PAVI has an authorized capital of P10 billion, with Villar holding 99.99 percent of the company.
However, it suffered a setback due to the newly- enacted Republic Act 11966 or the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code of the Philippines, which outlined guidelines on how the implementing agency and project proponent carry out such projects.
It took effect on Dec. 23, 2023, while its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) took effect on April 7, 2024.
The DOTr targets to award the project to the private entity within the first quarter of 2025.
Under the PPP Code, the implementing agency shall consider significant issues and concerns in the project implementation.
These include the legal, technical, economic, financial, and commercial feasibility of the project, as well as value for money, climate resilience and sustainability; and social and environmental safeguards.
The development of such a project shall commence only after the conduct of stakeholder consultation, the law provides.
The implementing agency shall secure the approval of their respective city or town council and the local development councils.
The agency is also authorized to “identify, develop, assess, evaluate, approve, negotiate, award, and undertake” the public- partnership projects.
The approval by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) is necessary for the proposed project worth more than P15 billion./PN
