DOTC initiates more airport projects

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has earmarked nearly P100 million for the development of two provincial airports that are expected to serve as gateways to several of the country’s emerging tourist hotspots.

In an invitation published Wednesday, the DOTC said airports in Bohol and Roxas City would be improved in support of the Aquino administration’s goal of establishing tourism as a key pillar of the domestic economy.

A total of P96.8 million was earmarked for the two projects, with the lion’s share of P72.59 million going to the new Bohol (Panglao) International Airport.

“The need to develop a new international airport in Panglao, Bohol, is imperative to support the increasing trade and tourism in the region,” the DOTC said in its invitation. “As popular destinations like Chocolate Hills and where the famous Tarsier can be found, a new airport will help attract more local and international tourists to visit the province.”

The budget for the new Bohol airport will only form part of the total cost of building a new facility in the province—big enough to serve international airline traffic.

The money will be spent on “preparatory works” for the new airport, including the cleaning of 216 hectares of land and the construction of a barbed-wire fence over 10 kilometers long.

The deadline for the submission of bids was set on April 16.

Meanwhile, the DOTC likewise earmarked P24.24 million for the development of the Roxas Airport in Capiz.

The project will be in support of “the government’s tourism objective of reaching 10 million tourists by 2016,” the DOTC said.

“Roxas City, the seafood capital of the Philippines, is one destination where an increasing number of local and international tourists are projected to visit,” the department said.

The budget will fund the paving of the airport’s runway with asphalt, the DOTC said. The deadline for the submission of bids was set on April 17.