By HENRY EMPEÑO | May 1, 2026

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has set the deadline for the submission of comparative proposals for the development of the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) on August 17, or 90 calendar days after its formal invitation for challengers to apply for eligibility.

The SBMA opened the P6.2-billion Subic airport project for comparative proposals, or Swiss challenge, after approving the unsolicited proposal by the original proponent Cerberus Asia Pacific Investments LLC.

Cerberus Asia Pacific Investments LLC is a key affiliate of the New York-based alternative investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, which also acquired the former Hanjin shipyard in Subic in 2022.

Information posted on the website of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center of the Philippines last Monday, April 27, showed the SBMA received Cerberus’s unsolicited proposal for the SBIA project on March 26 last year.

The project includes the upgrade, expansion, operation and maintenance of the Subic airport within a concession period of 25 years, which is open to extension. The airport will eventually be turned over to the SBMA after the concession period.

Following detailed evaluation of the Cerberus proposal, the SBMA said it granted Cerberus the original proponent status (OPS) for the project. At the same time, it subjected said proposal for comparative challenge in accordance with R.A. 11966, or the Public-Private Partnership Code of the Philippines.

The comparative challenge will be a single-stage bidding process, SBMA said. Each challenger will submit three envelopes respectively containing qualification documents, technical proposal, and financial qualifications to the SBMA Pre-Qualification/Qualifications, Bids, and Awards Committee (PBAC).

The SBMA PBAC will then sift through challengers who meet all qualification requirements to determine who can join in the opening of technical proposals. Those deemed compliant in the second stage will thereafter participate in the opening of the financial proposals.

The proponent with the highest base concession fee for the first year of the contract will be declared as the challenger with the most superior comparative proposal, the SBMA added.

However, the Swiss challenge would also allow Cerberus to match or better the financial proposal of the most superior challenger within 30 days, the SBMA clarified.

“In case the SBMA PBAC determines the financial proposal of the original proponent to be superior or more advantageous to the government, or in case there is no challenger, the PPP contract shall be awarded to the original proponent,” the SBMA also said.

The Subic agency required a non-refundable participation fee of P1.4 million or US$23,333.33 for challengers, and set the submission of comparative proposals on or before 2:00 p.m. of August 17, 2026.

It also reserved the right to accept or reject any application or proposal at its discretion, annul the comparative challenge, or reject all proposals without liability for any associated costs.

The SBMA said the airport development project primarily aims to transform the SBIA into a modern, efficient, and high-capacity international cargo hub that will serve the Luzon region.

The Subic airport was commissioned by the U.S. Navy as the Naval Air Station Cubi Point in 1956. Following the Subic turnover in 1991, the SBMA upgraded the airport runway, built a US$ 12.6-million passenger terminal, and equipped the renamed SBIA with systems at par with international standards.

The airport, which once served as the AsiaOne hub of the courier giant FedEx from 1995 until the company relocated to Guangzhou, China in 2009, is being marketed by the SBMA as ideally positioned within Asia’s fastest growing passenger and cargo routes. ▲