The Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) sought transfer of the second tranche of funds amounting to P161.7 million from the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
The release of the said amount will set into motion the bidding of the procurement of consultancy services for the detailed engineering and civil works design of the new airport terminal building project.
Earlier last week, the DOTr released P6.6 million to CIAC representing the first tranche of funds from the P2.8-billion budget for the hiring of consultants to assist the airport management in approving the Terms of Reference (TOR) for Detailed Engineering and Design (DED).
It said DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade’s initiatives in the transfer of funds is both timely and vital to CIAC’s plans to accommodate the increasing number of passenger traffic at the Clark airport.
The P161.7 million is half of the P323 million allocated for the bidding of the consultancy services for the DED and project management services.
The process of bid and award of contract is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year.
The winning bidder will be responsible for the design study and the draft TOR as basis in acquiring the services to build three major civil works, namely, the taxiway, a new aircraft parking apron or ramp, and apron shoulders, all amounting to P2.163 billion.
The design study and the corresponding TOR will also be reviewed and approved by the CIAC Board of Directors before the third tranche of funds amounting to another P161.7 million is released.
In implementing these civil works, the CIAC will submit an approved program of work and will seek the transfer of the remaining budget, also in tranches, from the period of pre-construction supervision to actual implementation.
The DOTr was appropriated with P800-million and P2.09-billion in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2015 and 2016, respectively, for the CRK project’s first phase this year.
The construction of a new Clark airport terminal―the first of four design phases―for domestic and international travelers with an 8-million-passenger capacity is included in CIAC’s Master Development Plan and will be finished before the term of President Rodrigo Duterte ends. It is part of the Duterte administration’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure development thrust in the next five-and-a-half years.