DAVAO CITY-Major infrastructure upgrades are gathering steam across Mindanao, with two key airports and a revived island-wide railway system among a fresh wave of projects being prepared for public-private partnership (PPP) backing.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Mindanao Development Forum at Dusit Thani Davao, Public-Private Partnership Center Undersecretary Rizza Blanco-Latorre revealed that 70 PPP projects across the island are currently moving through various stages of development-with 30 already in active implementation.
Nationwide, the agency handles a total portfolio of 600 projects.
Among the high-profile entries on the table are airport expansions for:
Laguindingan Airport (Misamis Oriental)-Northern Mindanao’s primary international gateway.
Sayak Airport (Siargao Island)-The bustling surf capital’s Class-2 hub, currently limited to smaller propeller aircraft.
Railway, clean power
THE push goes beyond aviation. Latorre confirmed that the long-delayed Mindanao Railway-once a centerpiece infrastructure goal under former President Rodrigo Duterte-has been officially referred back to the PPP Center to be restudied for potential private sector investment.
Also undergoing evaluation is the long-overdue overhaul of the Agus-Pulangui Hydroelectric Power Plants. Stretching across Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, and Bukidnon, the complex was historically the island’s primary power source.
Deputy Executive Director Romeo Montenegro of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said clean power remains top priority as Mindanao is targeting an added 1,000 megawatts by 2030, aiming for renewables to hit 50 percent of its total energy mix.
Peace, investment fueling ambition
LOCAL leaders are showing unprecedented interest in big-ticket development, spurred by streamlined regulations under the new PPP Code, fast-tracked ‘green lane’ approvals, and dramatically improved regional peace and security.
MinDA Chairman Leo Tereso Magno highlighted the historic turnout at this year’s forum-attracting 520 local government delegates-as proof of growing local initiative.
‘The audacity of local governments to propose big projects is directly linked to the improved peace situation and rising investment across Mindanao,’ Magno noted.
He singled out the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as a prime success story-after logging P4 billion in investments in 2023 and P5 billion in 2024, BARMM blew past its annual targets in just the first six months of 2026, pulling in P5.1 billion in registered investments.
The economic turnaround has yielded tangible results: poverty incidence in the autonomous region dropped sharply from 23 percent in 2023 down to 18 percent last year.