Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas is pushing for the inclusion of the proposed expansion of the Iloilo International Airport in the list of the national government’s priority projects.
“We need to continue pushing for the development of our international airport since it is now overcrowded,” said Treñas, who chairs the Infrastructures and Development Committee of the Regional Development Council (RDC-6).
In his letter to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Investment Programming Group, the mayor noted that the airport in the town of Cabatuan “is already reaching its capacity.”
Expanding the airport would not only accommodate the increasing number of passengers but would also create more job opportunities and support the growth of the city’s economy, said Treñas.
NEDA Investment Programming Group Undersecretary Joseph J. Capuno referred Treñas’ request to Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary Timothy John R. Batan.
The Investment Programming Group is the primary entity in charge of planning and programming, coordinating, and implementing, among others, the promotion, development, and regulation of safe, efficient, and reliable transportation services and systems in the country, including air transport facilities.
According to Capuno, the airport expansion is not included in DOTr’s submission of proposed infrastructure projects for inclusion in the Public Investment Program (PIP) 2023-2028 and the Three Year-Rolling Infrastructure Program (TRIP) 2024-2026.
He requested the DOTr to provide Treñas updates on the unsolicited Public-Private Partnership (PPP) proposal for the rehabilitation, operation, maintenance, and expansion of the Iloilo International Airport submitted to DOTr and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) during the previous administration.IMT
