After two decades in limbo, new Cebu port to begin construction in Q3

Timothy John Batan —TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD

SINGAPORE—Construction of the P16-billion New Cebu International Container Port will finally start in the third quarter of 2024, over two decades since the creation of the project’s master plan to decongest the existing infrastructure in the province.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Asia Infrastructure Forum in Singapore, Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said the project would be up for President Marcos’ approval once the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) board convenes again in mid-June. The Neda board is chaired by the President.

“The project will have to go to the [Neda board’s] Cabinet Committee next week, and the Neda board next week. Then we can start construction in the third quarter,” Batan said. “We’re finished with procurement.”

The new port will be built on a 25-hectare reclaimed land in the town of Consolacion in Cebu.

READ: South Korea lends PH P8.8B for new Cebu port

The project will include a berthing facility with a 500-meter quay wall length that can simultaneously accommodate two 2,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) vessels. The port will also have operating facilities and structures for containers such as a freight station and inspection shed, as well as an access road and bridge.

To handle international cargo

Batan said the project was expected to be completed in the “middle of 2027.” Once finished, the new container terminal will manage international cargo while the existing Cebu port will handle domestic flows.

As it is, more than two decades have passed since the Japan International Cooperation Agency created the master plan for the new Cebu port in 2002.

It was only in 2018 that the government signed a $172.64-million loan deal with Export-Import Bank of Korea to bankroll the project’s construction. The Philippines, for its part, will provide a counterpart fund of $26.09 million for the project.

Despite securing the financing six years ago, construction was still delayed as its total cost had ballooned over the years from the previous estimate of P10 billion. For that reason, the project had to return to the Neda board, which will approve the bigger funding requirements.

Batan said the government wanted a private company to handle the new Cebu port’s operations via public-private partnerships or PPP.—Tyrone Jasper C. Piad