Halfway through the term of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has completed 61 airport projects nationwide, with 100 more ongoing, Secretary Arthur P. Tugade announced.
The DOTr and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) built two international airports, including the country’s first eco-airport, the Bohol-Panglao International Airport. They also built a new world-class passenger terminal building for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
Currently, they are improving international airports in Davao, General Santos, Zamboanga, Iloilo, Kalibo and Laoag. They are also constructing the second Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) of Clark International Airport and planning an additional runway.
Construction of the Sangley Airport in Cavite is now ongoing, 24/7, to meet the November, 2019 deadline for the start of general aviation and turboprop operations there.
The construction of the Bicol International Airport is more than halfway complete, todate and DOTr expects to open bids for the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan by the end of this month. Ormoc Airport has renovated its PTB and widened its runway “after years of neglect.”
A total of 21 commercial airports have achieved night ratings and 9 airports have been awarded with On-Time Performance (OTP) star ratings last year.
In the railway sector, the DOTr started the construction of four railway projects and continued two more.
The railway projects include the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Clark Phase 1, the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 Cavite Extension, the Common Station and the Metro Manila Subway.
The DOTr also continued two more railway projects that began during the previous administration – the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 and the LRT Line 2 East Extension.
Already, the Metro Manila Subway has broken ground this February, the MRT 7 is nearly halfway complete and the MRT3 rehabilitation has started. The LRT1 Cavite Extension has started construction after two decades of delay and the LRT2 east Extension will be completed before the end of next year.
The PNR Clark Phase 1 is now on full-blast construction with the procurement of new train sets underway. The PNR Bicol and Mindanao Railway projects will start construction soon.
In the maritime sector, the DOTr has built and started operations of one land port and completed 218 commercial and social/tourism port projects.
With three more years left under the Duterte administration, the DOTr has been working at top speed to deliver these projects and programs without sacrificing quality, knowing full well that Filipinos have been waiting for decades for such public service, according to Tugade.
https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/07/24/dotr-completes-61-airports-building-4-railway-projects/
