Cavite scrutinizes partner’s financial power to build Sangley airport

The Cavite government is already evaluating the final submission of a China-backed consortium for the proposed Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) project, according to Gov. Jonvic Remulla.

The review was meant to ensure the strength of their joint venture for a new air gateway that would eventually rival Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

“The country has a long history of failed joint venture agreements,” Remulla told the Inquirer, adding the local government would ensure “all compliance issues are addressed.”

The Cavite government’s Public Private Partnership office would review the ownership structure and equity sourcing, among others.

“There has to be substantial equity on the investment side,” he said.

The submission made by taipan Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp. and partner China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC) is the last requirement before the joint venture with the Cavite government can be sealed.

The partnership will cover the first phase of the P500-billion SPIA.

While a local government project, the SPIA was also boosted by the Philippines’ warm embrace of China under President Duterte.

Remulla has stood by CCCC even as its subsidiaries were included in a United States sanctions list for building militarized islands in the West Philippine Sea.

The governor pointed to the economic benefits of having a new international airport in Cavite.

SPIA aims to become a global air hub with four parallel runways and an annual capacity of 130 million passengers.

Along with San Miguel Corp.’s airport city in Bulacan province, the Sangley airport was meant to cut congestion—a worsening problem before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived—in Manila’s Naia.