Following a joint proposal to upgrade three key regional airports in the Philippines—Bicol, Davao, and Siargao—the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has welcomed the move and said that a groundbreaking ceremony, to kick off construction at Siargao, was imminent.

Two of the country’s biggest conglomerates—Gokongwei Group, with diverse interests from food, agro-industrial, and petrochemicals, to air transport, banking, and real estate; and Filinvest, a property developer—made the unsolicited, bundled proposal according to Vivencio Dizon, the Philippines’ Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) since February this year.

He made the comments in an interview with television station ANC, owned and operated by media group ABS-CBN Corporation. Dizon noted that the three airports are all overcrowded, especially Siargao (officially Sayak Airport (IAO), which has become a travel hub for foreign tourists as it is a gateway to coveted surfing beaches and to Siargao Island itself, which is a designated national park. More flights to IAO have been added by airlines in recent years from airports such as Manila, Cebu, and Clark, resulting in thousands of tourists traveling through daily.

While the proposal from Gokongwei and Filinvest is being assessed, Dizon said that an upgrade of IAO is going ahead through state funding and that the ground-breaking is set for Friday this week.

Easing Overcrowding

In the interview with ANC, Dizon said (translated): “This will be a huge relief for locals and tourists. Currently, Siargao only has about 200 seats but handles 18 flights a day. When flights overlap, it becomes really crowded. Now the capacity will triple to more than 750 seats. For now, the project will be government-led. If the unsolicited proposal is accepted, it will be turned over to them later on.”

Any deal with Gokongwei and Filinvest would almost certainly be through a public-private partnership (PPP). In mid-June, DOTr publicly committed to privatizing the operations and maintenance of at least another 10 regional airports by 2028 to improve connectivity across the Philippines archipelago to ensure, at the very least, more areas have an air connection for logistics, emergencies, and disaster relief.

Dizon made the statement during a forum hosted by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines and named the airports as Iloilo, Davao, Siargao, Laoag, Busuanga, Bicol, Tacloban, Bacolod-Silay, General Santos, and Puerto Princesa. To make the privatizations financially attractive, bundling several airports into single contracts is under consideration.

Fast-tracking Infrastructure Projects

At the end of February this year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued clear directives to Dizon to fast-track key infrastructure projects “to enhance connectivity, ensure commuter safety, and drive economic growth.”

Marcos emphasized that infrastructure “is more than just building roads and railways—it is about delivering safe, reliable, and future-ready mobility for millions of Filipinos.” He added that a modern and efficient transport system would be fundamental to national progress.

A test of that progress will be the biggest airport privatization in the country, that of Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), now in the hands of the San Miguel-led New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC). The hub handled 50.1 million passengers last year, up 5.1% from its previous pre-pandemic high in 2019, and 10.43% higher than in 2023.

Ramon S. Ang, President of NNIC, said: “More Filipinos are flying, and more visitors are coming to the Philippines. This growth is a clear sign that confidence in air travel has returned.” This year, NNIC has focused on expanding international routes and is building a new Terminal 5 to boost capacity to 62 million annually.