PANGLAO, Bohol -- Nearly 20 years after the idea was first proposed, Bohol finally seems set to have its own international airport located on the tourist island of Panglao.

The airport is to be built as part of the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) plan with a public invitation to bid due out in August.

Local political leaders from governors down have long campaigned for a replacement of the small and heavily congested domestic airport located less than a mile from Tagbilaran City on the neighboring island of Bohol. The proposed new airport lies across the causeway and is a 40-minute drive away from the city.

SEN. NINOY AQUINO, Sultan Kudarat — It is in places such as these that the role good quality roads play in helping to improve people’s livelihoods is so easily understood.

Norman Lucero, 47, is the driver of a Mitsubishi commuter van which ploughs the 85-kilometer route between Isulan and Kulaman (recently renamed Senator Ninoy Aquino) in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao. It would be wrong to call this a road since it remains far from completed and is the reason Norman can only charge his passengers PhP 150 (USD 3) for the one way trip that can take up to four or even five hours.

While President Benigno Aquino III has vowed to implement key reforms and take a wholly different track from his predecessor, not all the policies of the Arroyo presidency have been abandoned.

One of the few things pursued by the previous administration which is set to continue and be intensified is the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.

Under this program, the government will tap the private sector to invest in public infrastructure projects. While private investors will be expected to abide by regulations that come along with operating public infrastructure projects, the government is expected to ensure the consistency of regulations and provide an environment suitable for both business and just for the end-users – namely the general public.