MANILA, Philippines - The board of directors of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) has allocated P16.7 million for the hiring of a consultancy firm to prepare the master plan for the conversion of the Sangley Point in Cavite City into an international logistics hub.
Former Sen. Ramon Revilla, chair of the PRA board, said that the winning bidder for the consultancy is expected to determine the technical, economic and financial viability of the project including its social acceptability and environmental integrity.
The entire project is expected to cost P200 billion.
Revilla said the converted Sangley Point will have three major physical components - an international seaport and container terminal, a modern international airport and a reclamation component that will compliment the proposed developments in the area and provide expansion for export processing zones, industrial, commercial and tourism purposes.
An inseparable part of each component is the construction of a causeway that will connect the Manila-Cavite coastal road to Cavite City," Revilla said.
In a statement sent by PRA media relations officer Jerry Panela, Revilla said the conversion of the Sangley Point into a modern seaport and airport will boost the countrys economy.
Revilla chairs the inter-agency executive committee while Cavite City Mayor Bernardo Paredes is his co-chairman.
The project will give our economy the much needed boost through investments because this will ultimately attract and place the Philippines in the limelight of global trade and commerce. This will bring our country back into financial competitiveness and erase the demeaning tag of being Asias laggard," Revilla said.
Revilla said that the province of Cavite has been the main duty-free port and depository for trade and goods between Asia and Europe for more than 200 years since the 16th century in Philippine history.
He recalled that Spanish galleons made two round trips annually between Cavite and Acapulco in Mexico laden with Chinese silk and porcelain; perfumes, spices and cotton from India; precious stones and silver from Europe and South America.
Sangley Point was once used by the American military as a ship repair facility and berthing area before it was turned over to the Philippine government in 1971.
It is now being by units of the the Philippine Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard.
Revilla said that Executive Order (EO) 629 - signed by President Arroyo on June 21, 2007 - the PRA, along with the local government officials of the Cavite City and other government agencies, has been tasked to form an inter-agency executive committee to oversee the planning and implementation of the conversion of Sangley Point into an international logistics hub.
The other members of the Sangley Point Development project executive committee include the secretaries of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), Department of National Defense (DND), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). - GMANews.TV