PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will attend at 4 p.m. today the inauguration of Mactan-Cebu International Airport’s Terminal 2.
He will then go on a walking tour and briefing led by Board Chairman Srinivas Bommidala and President Manuel Louie Ferrer of GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC).
It took the consortium less than three years to build the new terminal, which will raise Mactan airport’s capacity to 12.5 million passengers per year. Work began in June 2015, less than a year after GMCAC began managing the existing terminal.
The consortium won in 2014 the build-operate-transfer project, which is good for 25 years. GMCAC took over the current terminal’s operations in November 2014, then began a renovation and upgrade that brought its handling capacity up to almost eight million, though the facility had been designed for only 4.5 million, GMCAC said on its website.
Six of the 75 flagship projects in the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure program will be airports, the finance department announced last January. Combined, these 75 projects will be worth $35.5 billion (about P1.86 trillion at current rates).
After unveiling the Terminal 2 marker in the baggage claim hall’s exit area, the President will walk through the customs and immigration areas, boarding gates, security check area, and Duty Free Philippines.
His entourage will include Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, General Manager Steve Dicdican of Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), Presidential Assistant Michael Lloyd Dino and Secretary Adelino Sitoy of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office.
Director Fayette Riñen of the Philippine Information Agency said in a briefing on Wednesday that before the President’s arrival, there will be a pre-program where Secretary Puyat and Sen. Grace Poe will deliver their messages to a projected crowd of 600. That will include officials of GMCAC, MCIAA, local and national governments, and guests.
After the GMCAC event, President Duterte will proceed to the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City to administer the oath of 3,013 barangay captains in Central Visayas.
The Police Regional Office (PRO) is on full alert for the visit.
Chief Supt. Debold Sinas, the new PRO 7 director, said the police have coordinated with the Presidential Security Group.
PRO 7 will augment Lapu-Lapu City’s Police Office and at least 500 police officers will secure the President’s route.
This is President Duterte’s second Cebu visit in 18 days and his third, so far, this year.
Less than three weeks ago, he visited Cebu to open the Philippine National Games, attend the ceremonial switch-on of an oil and gas production field in Alegria town, and visit relatives in Tabogon during the town’s fiesta. (EOB with KAL)