THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that the operations and maintenance of Laguindingan International Airport in Misamis Oriental is being targeted to be awarded to the private sector in May this year.

According to NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, such development came with the government opening the competitive bidding to challenge the unsolicited proposal by Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. 

It seeks to take over the Laguindingan Airport when the NEDA Board, chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., approved the negotiated parameters, terms, and conditions (PTCs) of the project.

“These PTCs were negotiated between the government, represented by the Department of Transportation and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and the original proponent of the unsolicited public-private partnership (PPP) project,” Balisacan said.

Earlier, the DOTR and CAAP had declared that they are the ones implementing agencies for the PPP project.

During the previous administration, the Aboitiz InfraCapital secured original proponent status for its unsolicited proposal to take over Laguindingan Airport.