New Terminal Building in Clark breaks ground

December 20, 2017

The Department of Transportation (DOTr), Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), and the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) led the groundbreaking and capsule-laying of the New Terminal Building at the Clark International Airport at the airport grounds Wednesday.

The ceremony marks the start of finally expanding and developing what would be Asia’s next premier gateway, the DOTr said in a press statement.

Former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose term saw the building of the aiport, was the special guest.

“It’s quite sad that it took this long. The last six or seven years, things didn’t move. But we forget about the past. That’s water under the bridge, because now we move forward,” said BCDA President and CEO Vince Dizon.

Spanning around 100,000-sqm including landside and airside facilities, the new terminal is designed to accommodate an additional eight million passengers every year. It is expected to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals, as well as spread development in the peripheries.

The expansion of the Clark airport is part of a bigger development plan for North and Central Luzon. Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said that the new terminal will complement other infrastructure projects in the area: Manila-Clark Railway, Subic-Clark Cargo Railway, and the New Clark City.

“We will connect this project with the Manila-Clark Railway. Not later than 06 January 2018, we will mobilize the construction of the first segment from Tutuban to Malolos, and hopefully we will complete the entire line to Clark before the end of President Duterte’s term,” Tugade said.

Dizon is confident that the new terminal will encourage more people to fly from Clark.

“Before Duterte, there were only seven flights from Clark. Now, there are 200 flights from Clark, and that happened in the first year of the administration. That is political will of a President from Mindanao, who said as early as the campaign, that we need to develop Clark,” Dizon said.

Upon assumption into office, Tugade likewise encouraged airlines to launch more flights from Clark in order to decongest NAIA. He also transferred some general aviation activities there.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, who represented the economic team of the Cabinet, assured that the delivery of the terminal will not be delayed.

“Before, projects take an average of 30 months under PPP ( Public Private Partnership). I assure you that this will not happen in the infrastructure projects of the Duterte administration,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said the Clark expansion project is considered the fastest to be implemented by the national government. It broke ground just six months after getting the NEDA Board approval.

The construction of the new terminal is the first hybrid project under the BuildBuildBuild Infrastructure Program of the Duterte administration. Under the hybrid model, the government will build the infrastructure using its own funds to ensure fast delivery of the project. DMS