MIAA collectible to leverage for loan for Panglao airport

THE P3-billion collectible of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) from the Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be used to leverage for a loan with the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines (LBP-DBP) consortium to complete the Panglao Bohol International Airport (PBIA).

Gov. Erico Aumentado, chair of the Panglao Island Tourism Estate (PITE) Inter Agency Task Force said MIAA General Manager Alfonso Cusi made the announcement during their task force meeting Friday hosted by the latter. He said MIAA and PAL have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) where PAL will pay its account over seven years. Since the airport will cost from P3.7 billion to P4.2 billion depending on the revision of the feasibility study (FS) and advanced detailed engineering (ADE) studies, the balance of the P3 billion PAL collectible will be sourced out from the loan. The revision in the FS to be made in the next three months and the ADE to be conducted in four or five months after that or a total of eight months sets the completion date around September 2009 at the earliest – still within the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Aumentado said the revision is due to the changes in the runway orientation from true north to the final 32 degrees. He intends to finish the land acquisition within the year. Landowners can sell their lots at fair market values determined by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and an appraisal committee created for the purpose, or barter lots with those earlier acquired but will no longer be within the runway. Expropriation is a last resort, he said.

The Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) had suggested the valuation to prevent land speculation. The BIR valuation pegged the going rate in the area from P40 to P60 per square meter. It has no beachfront, he added. A true north runway bearing puts the Alona row of beach resorts within the plane's flight path while a 32-degree orientation points to only 14 houses in the Tapurok, Danao area. Except for a few, details of the lots are have been generally completed by the Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Aumentado said Cusi will report on these and updates on the upgrading of the Tagbilaran City airport on the next PITE IATF meeting scheduled here on July 22.

To note, the Air Transportation Office (ATO) of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) had reported that the turnaround pad is currently already 98% complete – expanded in order to accommodate the Airbus 320. PAL will be upgrading its fleet by October next year. The Airbus 320 is bigger than the Airbus 319 now being used by the Cebu Pacific, the other airline serving the Tagbilaran airport.

On the other hand, Aumentado said Rep. Edgar Chatto of Bohol 's 1st District reported that the P18 million for the baggage carousel and conveyor belt has been inserted i9n the 2006 General Appropriations Act (GAA). It will be installed before PAL upgrades to the Airbus320, he said. The governor also said the task force endorsed the improvement of the Panglao Circumferential Road , Panglao Spur Road and the two causeways connecting the island to Bohol mainland for action by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). The Panglao circumferential and spur roads are included in Package 1 of the Bohol Circumferential Road Improvement Project Phase 3 (BCRIP 3) now submitted for inclusion in the 28th Yen Loan Package.

l