The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. approved on Wednesday the solicited proposal to rehabilitate and expand the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Project.

In a briefing, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the PHP170.6-billion Solicited NAIA PPP Project is one of the three projects approved during a meeting with the President at Malacañan Palace.

Balisacan said the Solicited NAIA PPP Project is under the Department of Transportation and the Manila International Airport Authority.

He said the project aims to address “long-standing issues at NAIA, such as the inadequate capacity of passenger terminal buildings and restricted aircraft movement,” and would help make NAIA be at par with the airports of neighboring countries.

“It aims to increase the current annual airport capacity from 35 million to at least 62 million passengers. The NAIA PPP Project also aims to increase air traffic movement from 40 to 48 per hour,” Balisacan said.

“The project is also expected to improve the overall passenger experience and service quality to prevent long queues, lengthy waiting times, and other passenger inconveniences.”

Balisacan said NEDA expects to have the winning bidder within the year.

He said the project would start as early as next year.

Aside from the NAIA rehabilitation project, the NEDA Board also approved the PHP7.48 billion Samar Pacific Coastal Road 2 Project and the PHP12.75 billion unsolicited proposal for the upgrade, expansion, operation, and maintenance of the Laguindingan International Airport Project.

Balisacan said the Samar Pacific Coastal Road 2 Project involves the construction of the Laoang 2 Bridge and Calomotan Bridge, and the improvement of existing roads between Laoang Island and mainland Samar Island with a total length of 15 km.

On the other hand, the unsolicited Laguindingan Airport PPP Project in Misamis Oriental aims to integrate concepts of “green” and “connected” airports into its design and operation and use digital technologies to enhance the passenger experience.

Balisacan said the NEDA Board also approved requests for reasonable changes in scope, cost, design, and or loan validity of four ongoing infrastructure projects.

These are the loan validity extension and implementation period extension of the PHP7.5-billion Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation or IDRR-CCA Measures in Low-Lying Areas of Pampanga Bay Project; extension of implementation period, loan validity, increase in cost, reallocation of loan proceeds, and change in scope and design of the PHP19.6-billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage 2 project; change in the project scope, decrease in cost, and extension of the implementation period for the PHP5.1-billion Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project Stage 2; and the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit loan validity extension until Dec. 31, 2025.

Balisacan said the NEDA Board also confirmed the proposed adoption of a National Policy on Infrastructure Sector Master Plans.

“The policy aims to harmonize and rationalize the formulation of master plans for the infrastructure sector across the government. This is to ensure that the master plans are coordinated, synergistic, responsive to the emerging issues, and consistent with the sector’s priority development strategies,” he said.

Balisacan said an executive order would be issued to strengthen its implementation nationwide. (PNA)