LILOAN, Cebu, Philippines – Authorities are revisiting a plan that had been shelved in 2002 to build a P20.4-billion offshore international port between the towns of Consolacion and Liloan, in northern Cebu.

The Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) is the proponent of the P20.4-billion offshore international port. According to officials of the CPA, funding for the project could be sourced from either a loan or through an investment as a result of public-private sector partnership.

The CPA has presented plans for the proposed port to be constructed in Maya, Daanbantayan as well as for the improvement of the Hagnaya port in San Remigio. The latter project is being supported by Cebu (fourth district) Representative Benhur Salimbangon.

Representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) met in Cebu Monday to take another look at the study of the proposed international container port.

Said study which involves constructing an offshore container port after the container traffic congestion was already felt at the existing Cebu International Port was conducted by the JICA in 2000.

However, CPA General Manager Dennis Villamor said it was shelved by the Cebu Port Commission in 2002. “It was only recently, in 2010, that we thought we would revisit the proposal because of the problem on traffic management, capacity and volume accommodation,” he said.

Villamor added that the proposed international container service terminal to be built in Consolacion-Liloan will cover an area of 60 hectares. It will be constructed off the coast and will be connected to the shore by a bridge. He also said that it will be implemented in two phases and that the construction of the entire project would take from three to five years.

He said the project proposal has already been presented to Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, and now, they are poised to present it to the Cebu Port Commission for approval before submitting it to the DoTC.

From the DoTC, the project proposal will then be presented to the National Economic and Development Authority for review before submission to President Benigno Aquino III for final approval.