₱4.8-Billion New Panglao Airport open to Japanese contractors

₱4.8-Billion New Panglao, Bohol Airport. Source: PPP.Gov.Ph

 

The Philippine government is inviting Japanese contractors to join the bidding for the ₱4.8-billion contract to build a new airport in Panglao Island, Bohol, a project funded by the Japanese government.

 

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There will be a single-stage bidding procedure for the New Bohol Airport Construction and Sustainable Environment Protection Project such that there will be no pre-qualification stage.

 

But the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) stressed that only Japanese contractors are eligible as prime contractor for the project and Filipinos or other nationalities can be eligible as sub-contractors.

 

The project, funded through a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), covers the construction of passenger terminal building, control tower, fire station, drivers' lounge, car parks, guard house, toll booths, utility and navigational aids buildings, access roads and airport infrastructure including runway strip and taxiways.

 

It also covers the supply and installation of water and power supply system, sewage treatment system, air navigation facilities, and aeronautical ground lighting.

 

Interested bidders can purchase the bid documents for $1,000. A pre-bidding conference is set on January 6 while the deadline for submission of bids is set on March 3.

 

The new international airport in Bohol is soon to rise in a 216-hectare land in Panglao Island and will replace the old Tagbilaran Airport.

 

Representatives of JICA and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines signed the official development assistance loan agreement for the New Bohol Airport Construction and Sustainable Environment Protection Project last March 27.

 

According to JICA, the airport construction will be using Japanese environmental conservation technologies due to the conditions of the Japan-tied procurement.

 

"Under the concept of 'an eco airport,' the project will construct a new environmentally friendly airport using advanced Japanese technology, including a photovoltaic power generation system and geotextile sheets in the soaking yard to prevent airport drainage water from polluting the surrounding environment during construction," JICA said in its website http://www.jica.go.jp.

 

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JICA said the completion of the project expected by June 2016. "After the construction is completed, technical assistance will be provided for environmental protection to avoid a negative impact to the natural environment caused by the increase in tourists," JICA added. – Manila Bulletin

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Global Jubilee call for cancellation of World Bank $60 Billion Philippines’ debt part extravagant Marcos era’s $132 billion loan

A view of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in Morong, Bataan, north of Manila.The U.S.-built plant, completed in 1984, sits on an earthquake fault line and has never generated electricity. Photo March 17, 2011. REUTERS/Erik de Castro

 

Aid agencies call for cancellation of Philippines' foreign debts

 

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Lenders should cancel the Philippines' international debt of $60 billion to help the country pay for work needed to recover from Typhoon Haiyan and prepare for future emergencies, Christian Aid said on Thursday, a view echoed by other aid agencies.

 

The Philippines pays its international lenders nearly $22 million a day in interest, so has paid more than $550 million since Typhoon Haiyan struck nearly one month ago, Christian Aid said in a statement.

 

Repayments of debt and interest on loans amassed over 40 years, including the extravagant Marcos era, total some $132 billion, it said.

 

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The president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition, Ricardo Reyes, agreed with the call, saying he believed that "justice for the Filipino people demands debt cancellation, especially the illegitimate debts, which are odious, onerous, illegal, violate human rights, harmful to the people, environment and climate, and bereft of institutional processes and the consent of the people."

 

"Climate justice demands reparations to enable the Philippines to develop resilience to climate change and compensation for losses and damages," he added.

 

"International lenders should put life before debt and cancel the Philippines' foreign debt obligations as a matter of urgency, " the director of Jubilee Debt Campaign, Sarah-Jayne Clifton, said. "The Philippines urgently needs funding for relief and reconstruction efforts, as well as to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change and support communities who live in areas that are beyond adaptation," Clifton added.

 

Reconstruction costs after Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 5,600 people and wrecked more than a million homes, are estimated at between $6.5 billion and $15 billion.  The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have announced a total of $1 billion in loans for rebuilding.

 

An IMF country report published in April said that one-fifth of the country's yearly revenue goes on debt servicing.

 

"The Philippines is prone to natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes. Debts that should have been cancelled years ago are limiting the country's capacity to respond and prepare for future emergencies. Action on this is clearly needed before any new debts are added," said Christian Aid's senior economic justice adviser, Joseph Stead.

 

The Jubilee Debt Campaign, Freedom from Debt Coalition, Jubilee South (Asia) and Christian Aid have launched a petition calling on lenders such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to cancel the Philippines' debt.

 

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The campaigners say the Philippines has not derived much benefit from its sizeable loans. In one case, they say, loans were taken for a nuclear power plant, but the U.S. builder sited it on an earthquake fault line near a volcano, and it never generated any electricity.

 

The Philippines was excluded from the global Jubilee movement, a campaign for the cancellation or repudiation of developing country debts, as it was considered to be too rich.

 

There were 16 million malnourished people in the Philippines in 2011, according to an FAO report.

 

The campaign resulted in the cancellation of $130 billion of debt, most of it owed by African countries. –Thomson Reuters Foundation

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