Philippine President Ferdinand R Marcos Jnr ordered relevant government agencies to expedite the development of Cavite’s Sangley Airport.

Marcos voiced this directive during his state visit to India on August 6, while engaging with top executives of the GMR Group, which is a strategic partner for the Sangley Aerocity Project. This project includes the development of an international airport at the former Sangley Point Air Base.

The GMR Group is also exploring upcoming bids for regional airports and various infrastructure projects in the Philippines.

Once operational, the Sangley Point International Airport is expected to help alleviate congestion at Metro Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

A step in the right direction
Jonvic Remulla, the Secretary of the Interior and former Governor of Cavite, praised the President’s push as a positive step towards making Sangley Airport a supplementary hub for the country’s main gateway, stating:

“Within two and a half years, we will have another runway in use; 20 million more passengers can be accommodated there within the next two years. We’ll be able to decongest NAIA to make travel more comfortable for Filipino travellers and also draw in more foreign tourists.”

As of the latest updates, the President instructed full cooperation from all involved agencies to ensure the timely completion of this initiative.

What came before
Currently, the Sangley Airport project is being developed under a public-private partnership led by the Cavite provincial government. Before the President’s visit to India, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) approved a proposed joint venture for the airport’s development, indicating that the partnership was unlikely to significantly limit competition within the market.

This public-private partnership (PPP) involves the development, ownership, operation, management, and maintenance of Sangley Airport, with a total estimated cost of US$11 billion.