Motorists passing through the roads listed below may experience heavier traffic from 9 pm – 4 am on March 15 and 16, and March 16 and 17:

• Port / R-10 (9:00 pm – 9:30 pm)
• C3 Road (9:30 pm – 10:30 pm)
• 5th Avenue (10:30 pm – 12:00 am)
• G. Araneta Avenue (12:00 am – 1:30 am)
• E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue (1:30 am – 2:00 am)
• Gilmore Avenue (2:00 am – 3:00 am)
• Col. Bonny Serrano Avenue (3:00 am – 4:00 am)

The DOTr advised motorists to take alternate routes.

During this time, a tunnel boring machine will be transported to the site of the Camp Aguinaldo Station. The machine will be used to excavate the tunnel connecting the Metro Manila Subway’s Camp Aguinaldo Station and Ortigas Station. (READ: MAP: Metro Manila Subway stations)

A few weeks earlier, the DOTr also transported another tunnel boring machine, which will be used to construct the tunnels of the Metro Manila Subway’s Ortigas Avenue Station, Shaw Boulevard Station, and Kalayaan Avenue Station.

Once completed, the country’s first underground railway system will stretch from East Valenzuela to Bicutan, with a spur line to NAIA Terminal 3. Full operations for the subway is targeted for 2029. – Rappler.com

Must Watch

WATCH: What’s the progress on the Metro Manila Subway?

As of March 7, 2024, the Metro Manila Subway will have 17 stations, which will stretch from East Valenzuela in the north to Bicutan in the south. (READ: FAST FACTS: What’s the Metro Manila Subway?)

The 33-kilometer subway will also have spur line that connects to NAIA Terminal 3, meaning the country’s main airport will finally be connected to a railway.

Here is the map showing all the planned stations:

Here is a list of all the subway’s stations and the approximate locations where they will be constructed:

Full operations for the subway is targeted for 2029. Once it opens, commuters will be able to travel end to end – from Valenzuela to Bicutan – in just 46 minutes. – Rappler.com

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WATCH: What’s the progress on the Metro Manila Subway?

The last trips from Governor Pascual to Tutuban and Tutuban to Alabang will be on March 27. The closure is expected to affect around 30,000 commuters in Metro Manila who ride the trains every day. (Editor’s note: The initial version of this story misreported that the number of commuters affected daily is 300,000.)

In the meantime, buses on the Tutuban-Alabang route and vice versa will be expected to drop off and pick up passengers along the current PNR route.

Southbound buses will pass through the following areas:

• Divisoria (Tutuban)
• Mayhaligue Street
• Abad Santos Avenue
• Recto Avenue
• Legarda Street
• Quirino Avenue
• Nagtahan Flyover
• Mabini Bridge
• Quirino Avenue
• Osmeña Highway
• Nichols Entry
• SLEX
• Bicutan Exit
• Bicutan Entry
• Alabang (Starmall)

Meanwhile, northbound buses will pass through the following areas:

• Alabang (Starmall)
• Manila South Road
• East Service Road
• Alabang (Entry)
• SLEX, Bicutan Exit
• Bicutan Entry
• Nichols Exit
• Osmeña Highway
• Quirino Avenue
• Legarda Street
• Recto Avenue
• Abad Santos Avenue
• Mayhaligue Street
• Divisoria (Tutuban)

Here are the proposed bus stops for southbound and northbound buses near PNR stations, along with the trip schedules, according to the Department of Transportation:

Jeremy Regino, the current rails undersecretary who was the then-PNR general manager, previously told Rappler that the PNR’s Metro Manila trains will be transferred to its southern operations. (READ: PNR to stop operations in NCR by January 2024, resume trips to South Luzon)

“The loss of Metro Manila actually will be the gain of the Southern Luzon and Bicol area,” Regino told Rappler last October 2023. “Slowly, we are fixing the south.”

According to the Department of Transportation, halting the PNR will speed up the construction of the NSCR by 8 months, saving P15.18 billion in costs. The NSCR will be built along the same alignment used by the PNR in Metro Manila.

Once completed, the NSCR will run from Clark, Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna. The mega railway project is expected to accommodate up to 800,000 passengers per day. – Rappler.com

On Thursday, March 7, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista led the ceremonial launch of the tunnel boring machine that will excavate the subway’s northbound tunnel leading from the North Avenue Station to the Tandang Sora station, a process expected to take up to 12 months.

After three months, another tunnel boring machine will start to dig the southbound tunnel from North Avenue to Tandang Sora.

If all goes well, transport officials believe that the subway could be partially operational by 2028, with trains running from Valenzuela to Ortigas. Full operations – from Valenzuela to Bicutan – is expected in 2029. (FAST FACTS: What’s the Metro Manila Subway?)

What could stand in the way? Right of way issues.

For the full story, watch this Rappler Recap by business reporter Lance Spencer Yu, reporting 38 meters underground beside the massive machines making the tunnels. – Rappler.com

An underground railway system for the Philippines has remained a dream for more than 50 years now, but with the addition of a second tunnel machine to the project, it certainly feels like full speed ahead for the Metro Manila Subway.

Here’s what you need to know about the Philippines’ “project of the century.”

Play Video

Stations

As of March 7, 2024, there are 17 confirmed stations that stretch for 33 kilometers from Valenzuela to Parañaque, with a branch line going to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay.

Here are the stations:

1. East Valenzuela Station
2. Quirino Highway Station
3. Tandang Sora Station
4. North Avenue Station
5. Quezon Avenue Station
6. East Avenue Station
7. Anonas Station
8. Camp Aguinaldo Station
9. Ortigas Avenue Station
10. Shaw Boulevard Station
11. Kalayaan Avenue Station
12. BGC Station
13. Lawton Station
14. Senate-DepEd Station
15. NAIA Terminal 3 (branch line)
16. FTI Station
17. Bicutan Station

Play Video

Originally, travel time from Valenzuela to NAIA reaches one and a half hours. With the new subway, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has given varying estimates of travel time being slashed to 35 minutes, 41 minutes, or 45 minutes. Travel time from end to end (Valenzuela to Bicutan) is expected to be 46 minutes.

Once fully operational, the subway will have 30 pieces of eight-car train sets with a design speed of 85 kilometers per hour, enabling it to accommodate 519,000 passengers per day. 

Timeline

The Metro Manila Subway is far behind its initial schedule. Construction for the subway began in 2019. Back then, the subway was expected to be fully operational by 2025, with the first 3 stations supposedly running by 2022. But land acquisition challenges, right of way issues, delays in payments, and the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way.

Actual tunneling and excavation for the subway only began in January 2023. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who kicked off the launch of the first tunnel boring machine, urged those working on the subway to “finish the contract package by the end of 2027.” A Filipino-Japanese joint venture –composed of Shimizu Corporation, Fujita Corporation, Takenaka Civil Engineering Company Ltd, and EEI Corporation – has the contract package for the subway’s first three stations.

The tunnel boring machine launched in January 2023 was supposed to have completed the East Valenzuela–Quirino Highway stations tunnel by December 2023. The North Avenue–Tandang Sora station tunnel was supposed to start work in July 2023 and finish by July 2024. The last tunnel, from Tandang Sora–Quirino Highway, will be completed by August 2025.

However, the tunnel boring machine is only starting work on the North Avenue station in March 2024. Another tunnel boring machine from North Avenue will start excavating by July 2024.

The Department of Transportation recently moved another tunnel boring machine for the subway to Doña Julia Vargas Avenue, where it will be used to construct the tunnels for the Ortigas Avenue Station, Shaw Boulevard Station, and Kalayaan Avenue Stations.

Full operations for the subway is targeted for 2029.

Here is the list of contract packages for the subway:

• CP101 – Construction of depot and East Valenzuela, Quirino Highway, Tandang Sora, and North Avenue stations. Awarded to joint venture of Shimizu Corporation, Fujita Corporation, Takenaka Civil Engineering Company Ltd., and EEI Corporation.
• CP102 –  Construction of Quezon Avenue and East Avenue stations. Awarded to joint venture of Nishimatsu Construction Company Limited and D. M. Consunji Inc.
• CP103 – Construction of Anonas to Camp Aguinaldo stations. Awarded to Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd.
• CP104 – Construction of Ortigas to Shaw stations. Awarded to joint venture of Megawide Construction Corporation, Tokyu Construction, and Tobishima Corporation.
• CP105 – Construction of Kalayaan Avenue and BGC stations. Not yet awarded.
• CP106 – Integrated railway system along with track works. Awarded to Mitsubishi Corporation
• CP107 – Design, supply, installation, construction, testing, and commissioning of the subway’s 240 train cars. Awarded to joint venture of Japan Transport Engineering Co. and Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd.
• CP108 – Construction of Lawton and Senate-DepEd stations. Not yet awarded.
• CP109 – Construction of NAIA Terminal 3 station. Not yet awarded.

History

Plans for a subway date back to 1973 when the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA, then-known as the Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency) developed an urban transport study for the Metro Manila area. This was during the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s father.

“The rapid transit system for Manila and suburbs will consist of the subway system and the [Philippine National Railway] improvement project. Five lines are proposed for the subway system,” JICA wrote in its study.

The five lines planned back then would have stretched all across the metro. Line 1 would have stretched from Quezon Memorial Circle to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport; Line 2 from Manotoc Subdivision in Quezon City to Cainta, Rizal; Line 3 from Sangandaan, Caloocan to Pasay; Line 4 from Quirino Avenue to Roxas Boulevard and “future reclaimed land;” and Line 5 from Marulas, Valenzula to Tutuban, where it would connect to Line 1.

However, the proposal was eventually rejected in 1977 in favor of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) project that would eventually become the LRT-1. An idea for a subway was again revived during the administration of Benigno Aquino III, but disagreements on the alignment for the supposed “Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit Loop System” allegedly derailed the project before works had even began. It wasn’t until the Rodrigo Duterte administration that plans for a Metro Manila Subway were finally approved in 2017.

However, it would take more than 5 years before tunneling and excavation works finally began for the long-delayed subway in January 2023, now under President Marcos Jr.’s administration.

“Looking back, this Metro Manila subway was planned exactly 50 years ago in 1973,” Matsuda Kenichi, minister and deputy chief of mission for the embassy of Japan, said during the start of tunneling works. “The plan was first initiated during the time of the late president Marcos Sr. Decades later, it can be considered a legacy that is now in the hands of His Excellency President Marcos Jr. to fulfill.”

MISSING CONTEXT: Metro Manila Subway project snubbed by 6 administrations

Financing

The project has an estimated total cost P488.5 billion. The bulk of this – P370.7 billion – will be financed through an official development assistance (ODA) loan from JICA, while the remaining P117.7 billion will be shouldered by the Philippine government.

The project is currently drawing its funding from two JICA loan agreements. The first tranche of P47.58 billion was signed on March 2018, while a second tranche of P112.87 billion, was signed on February 2022. A third tranche of P55.7 billion is expected to come in March 2024.

“[T]he Department of Finance is fully committed to securing the funding for this project. We aim to finalize the loan agreement for the third tranche of financing by March 2024. We will also remain resolute in monitoring the progress of all ODA projects,” Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said during a visit to the subway.

The Department of Finance said that the Metro Manila Subway will lessen economic losses caused by traffic congestion by about P2.5 billion a day or P930.26 billion a year through “reduced vehicle costs, travel time, and carbon emissions.” – Rappler.com

No China, no problem: Mindanao Railway to continue even without Beijing’s loans

The 800-meter access ramp will cater to southbound traffic in EDSA coming from Makati, or northbound traffic coming from Entertainment City, San Miguel Corporation (SMC), the conglomerate that operates NAIAx, said in a press statement.

“This Tramo access ramp provides another option for motorists heading to the airport, and other areas in Paranaque City and Cavite province. We believe it can help relieve overall traffic congestion in the area, and improve traffic flow within the vicinity of the airport,” SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said during the access ramp’s opening on Friday, March 1.

Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan also said that the government and SMC are looking into “further improvements” for NAIAx to cater to the growing passenger volume of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The NAIAx is an 11-kilometer elevated toll expressway that connects the Skyway System to the country’s main international airport. It also connects to Entertainment City, Macapagal Boulevard, Sucat Road, and roads leading to Cavite.

San Miguel won the rights to NAIAx after it offered an P11-billion cash bid in 2013, which was significantly higher than the P305-million bid by a Metro Pacific Investments Corporation subsidiary.

A San Miguel-led consortium earlier won the bid for the NAIA rehabilitation project after it offered a government revenue share that was more than double that of the next highest bidder. SMC’s group is expected to take over operations of the Philippines’ main airport within the next six months.

San Miguel’s group wins bid for NAIA. What’s next?

– Rappler.com

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has now pulled out all of the rattan chairs in Terminal 2 after pest control service providers deemed them to be “prone to infestation,” MIAA Executive Assistant Chris Bendijo said in a Radyo5 interview on Friday, March 1.

The MIAA Media Affairs Division confirmed to Rappler that all rattan chairs have been removed “subject to disinfection.”

How did the chairs, which only arrived last year, go from a symbol of local culture to another bad mark on NAIA?

Earlier, MIAA issued a public apology after a passenger’s post about the bed bugs in the airport went viral. The passenger told Rappler that the bed bugs that bit them were particularly located in the rattan chairs of the arrival side of NAIA Terminal 2.

MIAA has reached out to the passenger and offered to compensate them for their medical expenses.

Those rattan chairs, which looked beautiful were it not for the creepy crawlers that they hid, are now gone. They were originally added as part of a “new and improved look” for NAIA Terminal 2.

Just last April 2023, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Transportation set about renovating the terminal and adding Filipino-made solihiya lamps and panels, mini-gardens, and “enticing rattan chairs.”

In a video by the Department of Tourism, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco is seen lounging around the rattan furniture, along with Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and then-MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong. A few days later, Frasco posted a photo of her and several children sitting on the rattan seats in Terminal 2 while waiting for their luggage to arrive.

“The craftsmanship and talent of our Filipino furniture makers is truly world class,” the tourism secretary said. “Maka-proud!”

Not even a year later, the same chairs – now infested with bugs – have been pulled out.

Metal chair infestation

And it’s not just the rattan chairs that are problematic. In January 2023, a public video also showed bed bugs crawling and peeking out of the holes of the metal gang chairs at NAIA Terminal 3.

Bendijo said that they’ve already pulled out the gang chairs as well, which will be sprayed with chemical disinfectants.

“Kakaibang species ng surot ang kanilang nakita (They saw a unique kind of bed bug species),” Bendijo said about what their pest control service provider found.

Bendijo also said they’re studying the performance of their pest control and housekeeping service providers. Currently, pest control is done quarterly while housekeeping personnel disinfect chairs daily using alcohol-based disinfectant during the airport’s non-peak hours.

“Itong mga service agreement na ito, aaralin po natin kung kailangan bang mas dikit ‘yung interval … para sigurado pong wala po talagang infestation ng ating mga upuan,” he said in the Radyo5 interview.

(We’ll study these service agreements to see if we need to make them more frequent…to really prevent any infestation of our chairs.)

Before this incident, NAIA already suffered from congestion and a lack of seating. But Bendijo said that MIAA has taken steps to ensure that seats will still be available in the terminals even now that several chairs have been pulled out for disinfection. MIAA is also considering procuring more chairs to replace the rattan chairs.

The country’s ailing international airport is due to get a total rehabilitation soon. A consortium led by San Miguel is expected to take over as NAIA’s operator within the next three to six months while MIAA will remain as a regulator. – Rappler.com

[ANALYSIS] Why airport ‘surot’ and Taylor Swift matter

MANILA, Philippines – The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) added another lowlight to its checkered reputation as the airport’s operator apologized to passengers who were reportedly bitten by bed bugs in Terminals 2 and 3.

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which regulates and operates the country’s main international gateway, confirmed that it received reports regarding bed bugs in the terminals and said that it “apologizes to the victims and assures them that a speedy resolution to this can be expected.”

Earlier on Tuesday, February 27, a post about a passenger being bitten by bed bugs in NAIA went viral in a Facebook group about traveling. The post warned about bed bugs in the rattan chairs in NAIA Terminal 2 and included photos of the supposed bites on their legs.

The seats have been removed permanently, according to a press release by MIAA on Wednesday, February 28. MIAA also said that the two victims who were bitten were assisted by the airport’s medical team.

PTV4 reported that other infected seats from the airport had been removed and treated as well.

MIAA General Manager Eric Ines has since ordered the terminal managers to investigate and provide a report in 24 hours outlining what happened and what “corrective actions” can be taken. Ines, who took over the ailing airport in late 2023, also ordered “comprehensive facility inspections and enhanced sanitation measures.”

A cursory check on social media would show that the problem is not recent. In December 2016, a Facebook user posted a public video of bed bugs swarming the cushion of a chair in NAIA 3. In January, a woman posted a video of bed bugs peeking from the holes of a metal chair at NAIA 3.

The incident is another bad mark on NAIA’s already poor reputation. It was also named among the worst airports in Asia for business travelers and the third most stressful airport in Asia and Oceania.

However, there is a glimmer of hope. The airport will soon undergo a much-needed rehabilitation in the hands of the San Miguel-led consortium that won the bid for NAIA. San Miguel’s group is expected to take over as the airport’s operator within the next three to six months. MIAA will then continue its role as a regulator. (READ: NAIA is 4th worst airport in Asia. Can its new operator turn things around?)

Transportation officials have said that once the takeover is complete, the first order of business will be to work on “quick gains” or low-hanging fruit improvements within the first year – improvements that presumably will include better chairs free of bed bugs. – Rappler.com

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San Miguel’s group wins bid for NAIA. What’s next?

In a study by business finance and lending research and information provider BusinessFinancing.co.uk, NAIA ranked as the fourth worst airport in Asia for business travelers, with an average rating of 2.78 over 10. Only Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (2.72/10), Kazakhstan’s Almaty International Airport (2.62/10), and Kuwait International Airport (1.69/10) ranked worse.

The study used passenger reviews from aviation customer review site Skytrax. Ratings from reviewers tagged as “business travelers” were then averaged to produce a ranked list of airports around the world and specific regions.

NAIA has garnered a long list of bad titles – from one of the “most stressful” airports in Asia to being downright the world’s worst airport. Despite being the country’s main international gateway, NAIA has suffered from underinvestment and mismanagement. The result: delayed flights, long lines, power outages, and even cash-gobbling security personnel.

But there is hope. The Philippine airport’s much-needed rehab is finally happening. Behind it is a consortium that includes San Miguel and IIAC, the state-owned operator of South Korea’s main airport. IIAC has only a 10% ownership stake in the consortium, but it serves as its operations and maintenance partner.

And as it happens, Incheon Airport ranks as the 20th best airport in the world for business travelers, according to the same study.

So what can one of the worst airports learn from one of the best?

A partner in Incheon

To understand, let’s start with the South Korean airport’s beginnings.

Plans for a new international airport for Korea date back to the late 1980s, after the existing Gimpo International Airport had reached capacity. Like NAIA, the Gimpo International Airport was right in the country’s capital region, Seoul. But this convenient location in the city also left little room for expansion and created noise pollution for nearby residential areas.

When it became clear that South Korea needed another international airport, the government eventually settled on a site more than 50 kilometers away from Seoul’s center. Construction for Incheon International Airport began on November 1992 on reclaimed land.

The airport opened for business in March 2001 with a passenger capacity of about 30 million per year, similar to NAIA’s current annual capacity. Since then, the IIAC has turned it into one of the world’s busiest and biggest airports, turning a profit of more than 860 billion South Korean won in pre-pandemic 2019 and now boasting an annual passenger capacity of 77 million.

The key was continuous expansion and modernization. Since it opened in 2001, Incheon International Airport has undergone multiple construction phases, with each increasing the airport’s capacity. It’s currently wrapping up its fourth construction phase, which adds a fourth runway, expands the airport’s second terminal, and builds more car parking facilities.

Incheon Airport also leans heavily on technology. For instance, it’s expanding its baggage transport system to a whopping 184 kilometers in length and intends to use a camera-based automatic tag reader to recognize and sort baggage. The airport also has a “Smart Pass,” which allows passengers to use their phones to scan their passport, biometrics, and boarding pass in advance, speeding up the immigration process.

The Incheon International Airport Corporation is no stranger to foreign airport projects. The IIAC aided in the master plan of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and served as a construction project management consultant for the Puerto Princesa Airport in Palawan. The IIAC is also the operator of the Kuwait International Airport’s Terminal 4 and the Hang Nadim International Airport in Indonesia.

[Vantage Point] BDO lifts NAIA rehab

What improvements await NAIA?

In contrast to the Incheon International Airport, NAIA has invested pitifully little in upgrading its facilities over the years. From 2010 to 2023, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) allotted only a total capital outlay of P27.09 billion, or P2.08 billion per year. (READ: [Vantage Point] Underspending left NAIA to rot)

In fact, the failure to upgrade NAIA’s facilities was partly behind the continuous power outages that have plagued the airport. Since the latest outage on June 9, 2023, MIAA has sworn to improve passenger boarding bridges, air conditioning, electrical works, and taxiways, among others.

Now, how will San Miguel and IIAC go about the NAIA rehabilitation?

Although NAIA’s new operator will be responsible for upgrading the airport’s runways, four terminals, and other facilities, the government did not outline exactly what structures or improvements need to be made. Rather, the consortium is expected to meet certain benchmarks and performance indicators, such as raising airport capacity from 35 million passengers a year to 62 million, and speeding up air traffic movements per hour from 40 to 48.

“We have a performance indicator on availability of parking. So you should be able to find parking within X amount. When you enter the airport, you should line up within a certain amount. You go through immigration, you go through security; there’s also an amount of time that’s prescribed for that. When you’re arriving, there’s a prescribed amount of time when the first and last baggage from the plane to the conveyor should come up,” Transportation Undersecretary for Planning and Project Development TJ Batan explained in a press conference.

There are many ways to meet these targets. For instance, the Manila International Airport Consortium – which made an unsuccessful unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate NAIA – bared a three-phased plan that aims to make operations more efficient, rather than adding more runways to the already-cramped airport area.

The plan includes flexible self check-ins, automated boarding gates, dynamic wayfinding and flight info displays, upgrades to the airfield, cross-terminal transportation, renovations to the airport facade, the expansion of all four terminals, and the creation of more taxiways and waiting bays.

Meanwhile, we aren’t too sure yet what San Miguel and IIAC’s plans are. There have been no specifics shared publicly, and the consortium has yet to hold a press conference.

The question now is, can the Incheon International Airport Corporation bring the same technological and operational prowess that it showed in developing the South Korean airport to the Philippines’ ailing international gateway? – Rappler.com

Is there something fishy behind the San Miguel consortium poised to get NAIA?

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is now inviting bidders from the private sector to submit comparative proposals for the “upgrade, expansion, operations, and maintenance” of the Laguindingan Airport.

In a process called a “Swiss challenge,” these submitted proposals will go head-to-head with the deal offered by Aboitiz InfraCapital, which has original proponent status over the project. A Swiss challenge allows other companies to submit proposals for a project to compete with the one submitted by the original proponent, who will then have the right to present an even better deal.

The modernization of the Laguindingan Airport is one of the infrastructure flagship projects of the government. According to bid documents, the airport developer is expected to do the following over a 30-year concession period:

• realize the potential of the airport in connecting Northern Mindanao’s five provinces (Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte, Bukidnon, and Camiguin), as well as its two highly urbanized cities (Cagayan de Oro and Iligan)
• define the aviation strategy for new airlines and new connections, including the development of international flights
• expand the capacity of the airport according to market demand
• introduce new concepts of sustainability and connectivity to improve the environmental and operational performance of the airport and enhance passenger experience
• implement commercial services in the extended terminal and on landside

The National Economic and Development Authority Board approved the negotiated parameters, terms, and conditions for the P12.75-billion Laguindingan Airport project just a month ago in January 2024. Meanwhile, Aboitiz InfraCapital gained original proponent status in 2019 when it submitted a P42.7-billion unsolicited proposal to upgrade, expand, maintain, and operate the airport for 35 years.

Laguindingan Airport is a relatively new airport that started operations in 2013. It handles mostly domestic flights and serves as a major gateway to the Northern Mindanao region. It has a design capacity of about 1.6 million passengers per year. – Rappler.com