Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla said Wednesday the provincial government has canceled the construction of a new airport in Sangley Point as proposed by a Chinese-Filipino consortium that includes tycoon Lucio Tan.
The joint venture of China Communications Construction Co Ltd and Tan's MacroAsia Corp failed to meet requirement for the proposed Sangley Point International Airport, Remulla said on Facebook.
While the award has been canceled, Remulla noted that this does not cancel negotiations or the planned redevelopment of the former airbase. It also does not bar CCCC-MC from participating in the next round of negotiations, but it does open the project to other parties and bids who wish to participate in constructing the new airport.
The SPIA project will now "restart and hopefully have a successful negotiation with any qualified partner by October, 2021," said Remulla.
The Cavite airport aims to decongest the Manila International Airport alongside its northern counterpart, Bulacan International Airport. The entire project is expected to cost a little over P500 billion. The SPIA aims to have a capacity of 130 million passengers per year by the time it's fully completed, but its initial phase will cover around 25 million passengers per year.
"I still believe that a new international airport is important for the country in the long run and it must be stressed that cancellation is not in prejudice of anyone applying again," Remulla said.
The CCCC came under fire last year after it was blacklisted by the U.S. government for constructing militarized artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea.
