A POLITICAL dispute has erupted in Cebu over a proposal to build a new international airport, pitting Fifth District Rep. Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco’s vision for a disaster-resilient backup facility against Gov. Pamela Baricuatro’s criticism that it is a “ridiculous” diversion from unfinished projects.
The proposal, pushed by Frasco, involves building an international airport in Sogod, northern Cebu. He argues it is a necessary backup to ensure air connectivity if the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) were crippled by a disaster, such as the magnitude 6.9 earthquake on Sept. 30, 2025.
Governor Baricuatro, however, rejected the idea, arguing that Frasco should first focus on completing the stalled Camotes Islands airport project, which is also in Fifth District.
THE CLASH: RESILIENCE VS. PRIORITIES. The debate pits two distinct arguments against each other. Speaking to local media on Tuesday, Oct. 21, Frasco warned that if the recent earthquake’s epicenter had been in Mactan, MCIA’s operations could have been “severely disrupted,” crippling travel and emergency response. He argues the Sogod airport would both enhance Cebu’s disaster resilience and drive economic development in the province’s northern areas.
He justified the need for a second gateway by pointing to other places such as Metro Manila (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) and Pampanga (Clark International Airport), and New York, London and Tokyo, which all have multiple airports.
On his Facebook page, Frasco called Baricuatro’s “ridiculous” comment a reflection of a mindset “limited by politics rather than vision.” He warned that without a backup, Cebu would be “cut off” if MCIA were shut down. “Cebu needs a secondary international airport, and it needed it yesterday,” Frasco said, urging the governor to “set aside politics until 2028.”
Baricuatro, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Oct. 22, said Frasco must first address the unfinished Camotes runway, which she noted still faces “unresolved payment issues.”
“Maghimo na sab siyag airport sa Sogod, wala pa gani niya nahuman ang Camotes. Daghan pa kaayog problema, naa pay wala nabayran diha sa airport sa Camotes unya maghimo nasab siya og Sogod (He’s already planning to build an airport in Sogod, yet he hasn’t even finished the one in Camotes. There are still so many problems — there are even unpaid obligations for the Camotes airport — and now he wants to build another one in Sogod),” Baricuatro said.
The governor insisted it is impractical to pursue a new multibillion-peso project when another airport in the same district remains incomplete.
WHAT ABOUT CAMOTES AIRPORT. The project at the center of the governor’s criticism is the Camotes Domestic Airport in San Francisco, Camotes Islands.
A SunStar Cebu report from Nov. 3, 2024, described the project as one expected to boost tourism, create jobs, and spur economic growth. At that time, Frasco stated that the runway had been concreted and called it a “transformative project” for Camotes.
The airport, proposed in 2020, has a P265 million budget for the runway and an additional P120 million for the terminal. It is located on land owned by the Provincial Government of Cebu and was designed to accommodate 70- to 80-passenger planes.
Baricuatro’s recent comments, however, suggest the project remains stalled over completion and payment issues.
“WORTH STUDYING.” Nigel Paul Villarete, former general manager of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority from 2010 to 2016, weighed in on the proposal on Wednesday, Oct. 22. In a message, Villarete called Frasco’s proposal “interesting and certainly worth entertaining and studying.” However, he stressed that it must first undergo proper development and feasibility studies, noting that Cebu already has an international airport in MCIA.
Villarete said the project’s realization would depend on its financial and economic viability. He cautioned that no project could proceed without proving it would be sustainable. “Government will not fund projects that are not viable, and this can only be determined by its economic internal rate of return,” he said.
WHAT MAKES AN AIRPORT “INTERNATIONAL.” Villarete also sought to clarify the terminology, explaining there is a difference between an “international airport” (which has regular scheduled international flights) and one “capable of handling international flights” (which has the facilities but no regular flights).
He argued that passenger demand, not government designation, ultimately determines an airport’s classification. “It won’t be the government or the airport that determines if an airport is local, national or international — it’s the airlines and passengers themselves,” Villarete said.
However, there is a law that governs the classification of airports. Republic Act 9497, or the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008, mandates that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) carry such tasks. Under Caap rules, an airport (owned by the National Government) may be classified as international if it can handle international flights and has border control facilities for customs and immigration.
Villarete added that MCIA already serves the entire Visayas and parts of Mindanao. “An international airport is a very big airport... You can’t have as many as you want or anywhere you want because its identification depends on being a destination, not just on size or capability,” he said.
WHAT’S NEXT. Frasco has yet to give an update on what happened on his bill proposing the creation of Sogod airport. For Villarete, the “best course of action” is to follow the established project development process. This would require a pre-feasibility study, followed by a full feasibility study. The project would then need endorsement from the Regional Development Council and, ultimately, approval from the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development, formerly the National Economic and Development Authority.
“At the end of the day, Neda requires those assessments, and certainly a project such as an international airport would need a Neda Board and Investment Coordinating Committee approval,” Villarete said. “Personally, I think it’s a good idea, so I would strongly push that the pre-investment studies be done soonest.” / CDF