The Marcos Jr regime privatized not just the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) but at least seven other local airports in the past or in the coming year. These public infrastructure and services are now being monopolized by the largest bourgeois compradors.
Like NAIA, increase in service fees and the laying off of employees and workers from these airports will likely follow.
In a ceremony yesterday, October 13, the Laguindingan local government formally awarded the contract to Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc (AII) to develop and manage the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental for the next 30 years. This airport serves passengers from Cagayan de Oro, Marawi, Iligan, and Bukidnon. Aboitiz also has a separate bid for privatizing the Bohol airport.
Aboitiz has also taken over the management of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) privatized by the previous Benigno Aquino III regime. In December 2022, AII bought 33.3% of the consortium’s shares for ₱9.5 billion. The airport is now being operated by the consortium GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation initially founded by big businessman Edgar Saavedra.
In 2025, the Marcos regime plans to successively privatize the public airports in Iloilo, Puerto Princesa (Palawan), Kalibo (Aklan), and Davao.
The Villar family, through Prime Asset Ventures, already submitted proposals for the airports in Iloilo and Puerto Princesa for ₱14.7 billion and ₱10.24 billion, respectively. The airport in Aklan was acquired by Mega7 Construction Corp, a company owned by a Singapore-based company.
Meanwhile, the Davao airport’s privatization process has been restarted as directed by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and the Asian Development Bank. In the past, Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp, a company owned by the Duterte family’s crony Dennis Uy, submitted a bid to buy the airport before it went bankrupt.
Luzon International Premier Airport Development (LIPAD) Corp, a consortium dominated by the Cebu Pacific owner Gokongwei family, now operates and profits from the previously privatized Clark International Airport.
One of the main drivers of these anti-people privatizations is Senator Grace Poe of the Senate transportation committee.
