Duterte wants Clark airport terminal completed by 2019

By Ding Cervantes

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga — President Duterte wants the construction of a new airport passenger terminal here completed during his term.

Bases Conversion Development Authority president and chief executive officer Vivencio Dizon said on Wednesday that Duterte wanted the terminal completed by 2019.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) acting president Alex Cauguiran said they are preparing to conduct the bidding so construction could start next year.

The CIAC will use the P800 million and P2.9 billion allocated in the 2015 and 2016 budgets, respectively, to start the construction. Of the amount, P330 million will be spent for the engineering design.

The CIAC said they have yet to know if the terminal building would be funded by the private sector.

Cauguiran said the terminal would comprise phase one of the proposed project, meant to accommodate eight million passengers annually.

He said the President wants to connect Clark and Subic freeports in order to turn Central Luzon into a major logistics hub.