The Provincial Development Council (PDC) approved a resolution asking for endorsement from the Regional Development Council (RDC)-7 to extend the area allocation of the New Bohol Airpor runway from two kilometers to 2.5 kilometers.
This came up during the PDC meeting on Monday presided by Gov. Edgar Chatto at JJ’s Seafoods Village.
The PDC discussed that the expansion of the runway is intended to make the new airport capable of accommodating big aircrafts.
Chatto said the proposed longer runway for the new airport had been discussed with President Benigno Simeon Aquino III together with DOTC Sec. Jun Abaya during the President’s visit here on Wednesday last week.
The governor said they had also discussed with the President the suggestion to construct a passengers’ bridge at the airport terminal.
The civil works of the New Bohol Airport Construction and Sustainable Environment Protection Project (NBACSEPP) covers a 45-meter wide runway, two taxiways, 56-square-meter apron, 193 lots for carpark or an area of 8.72 square meters, three-kilometer four-lane (two for each direction) access road.
The New Bohol Airport will also have an 8.3-square-meter single-storey passenger terminal, a 33-meer high nine-storey control tower building, a 1,000-square-meter two-storey administration building, a fire station or maintenance building, a 2,000-KVA power house building, and a water tank or pump house with capacity of 450 tons.
The utility works for the project covers a 2,000-KVA power supply system with two emergency generators, water supply system that can provide 450 tons daily, and a sewerage treatment system.
The air navigation facilities include an instrument landing system (ILS) or Glide Slope (GS) and localizer (LLZ), D-VOR (Doppler VHF Omni Directional Radio Range and DME (distance measuring equipment), airport terminal services (ATS) and telecommunications, and meteorological observation system.
For its aeronautical ground lighting, it will use precision approach lighting system for runway 21, and simple approach lighting system for runway 03.
The national government implements the project through the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) with Japan Airport Consultants, Inc. (JAC) to watch on its quality, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as the funding agency.
Chiyoda-Mitsubishi Joint Venture, the contractor, will finish the 30-month work in December 2017.
During his visit to Bohol last week, Aquino claimed his predecessor left the national coffers with almost nothing but his Daang Matuwid-inspired administration made it through and now Boholanos can look forward to the realization of the P7.4-Billion New Bohol Airport project in December 2017.
New Bohol Airport is projected to accommodate 1 million passengers annually.
The President laid the second time capsule at one end of the future runway at the airport project site.
The first time capsule laid by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was already taken out when the implementation of the project was botched following controversies surrounding the bidding process.
The idea of constructing an airport in Panglao came up during the time of former governor Constancio Torralba between 1988-1992. The proposal was met with oppositions throughout the succeeding administrations of former Bohol governors David Tirol, then Rene Relampagos, the late Erico Aumentado. But things became smoother during the administration of Chatto and Vice-Governor Conching Lim.
Chatto and now First District Rep. Rene Relampagos found it symbolic that the project was first proposed during the time of former president, the late Cory Aquino, and finally being implemented by the son.
However, it must be noted that it was during the time of Arroyo that funds for the project was finally allocated from the national government. By then, the local project management team under Aumentado already facilitated the acquisition of the around 220 hectares of land for the runway and cluster of administration buildings.
In his visit to the project site, Aquino said experts were tapped to ensure the viability of the project where a special cement had been injected on the ground to stabilize the bedrock as a remedy to the sinkholes spotted in the project site by the Phivolcs earlier.
The New Bohol Airport in Panglao will replace the existing Tagbilaran City Airport which has no room for expansion, Aquino said.