The contract for the construction of the new Bohol Airport was finally signed last Wednesday awarding the P7B project to two prestigious Japanese engineering giants which will construct the modern airport within 30 months, starting next month.

Rep. Rene Relampagos, chairman of the House Committee on Tourism said the project was awarded to Mitsubishi Corp. and Chiyoda Corp. which will undergo a joint venture undertaking for the modern airport.

During a meeting with DOTC Sec. Jun Abaya in Manila last Wednesday, the Bohol solon was assured that the official concurrence of the Japan International Cooperation (JICA) will follow shortly which will signal the actual commencement of the construction work in Panglao.

He said a coordinating meeting with Japanese consultants is scheduled  at the Discovery Suites on Wednesday afternoon.

DOTC Usec. Bucayan assured Relampagos that the coordination meeting with Bohol leaders led by Gov. Edgar Chatto will be attended by the winning bidder. The pre-implementation activities will be done in order to start the construction.

Rep. Relampagos told the Chronicle that he will closely monitor the issuance of the Notice to Proceed as this will take months if no consistent followup will be made. He will work it out that said notice can be issued within the next two weeks.

Gov. Chatto confirmed this updated development on the  Bohol Airport construction during the weekly “KIta Ug Ang Gobernador” last Friday.
The governor also confirmed that the fund for the project will be sourced out through a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

In a press statement, Chiyoda Corporation  together with Mitsubishi Corporation said they are “pleased to announce that they have reached an agreement with the DOTC to construct the New Bohol Airport”.

The companies, coming as Chiyoda-Mitsubishi Joint Venture as prime contractor, also confirmed that the project cost has been pegged at 11 billion Japanese Yen.

“With funding provided under a Japanese ODA [Official Development Assistance] loan, the new airport will be constructed in full compliance with international safety standards.

The new Bohol Airport  will replace the Tagbilaran City Airport and will be designed with adequate capacity to accommodate passenger increases in the future,”

The Japanese company also cited the increasing volume of domestic and international plane passengers in the Philippines as one of the factors to construct a new airport and another is the futility of expanding the existing Tagbilaran City Airport because of “environmental, social and other issues.”

“The New Bohol Airport will include facilities such as 2000-meter runway, passenger terminal building which can accommodate 1 million passenger annually, and airport special equipment. Built under the “Eco Airport,” concept and using advanced Japanese technology, the facility will be furnished with a photovoltaic power generation system and a filtering system to avoid polluting the surrounding environment by drainage during construction,” according to the Chiyoda statement.

The Bohol project, according to Chiyoda, is the second airport construction project that the company jointly builds with Mitsubishi Corp..

The first airport project jointly done by the two Japanese engineering giants is the “new Ulaanbaatar International Airport project in Mongolia, now under construction”.

Chiyoda also has track record “in supplying aircraft fuel hydrant systems to major Japanese airports, such as Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport and Narita International Airport”.

The company “also supplied Utility Systems to Riyadh International Airport and Dammam International Airport, both located in Saudi Arabia. As an integrated engineering company, the project will provide Chiyoda with an opportunity to reinforce its business in the transportation infrastructure industry, including the airport sector,” according to Chiyoda’s post.

Mitsubishi Corp. also has been involved in airport construction in Mongolia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Uzbekistan; while it “intends to maintain an active focus on expanding its airport-related business, including construction and operation, in order to respond to increasing demand for air transportation, particularly in Asia”.