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Bidding for the Clark National Food Hub first phase is eyed in the first quarter of 2026, according to Clark International Airport Corp chief strategy officer and urban planner Melissa Feliciano
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The Pampanga hub is expected to open in 2027
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The bidding for the initial 12 hectares of the 60-hectare hub will be conducted once the proposed budget by the Department of Agriculture under its 2026 general appropriations is approved
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DA has pledged to fund some components of the project, with an initial P2 billion
Bidding for the Clark National Food Hub first phase is eyed in the first quarter of 2026, with opening expected in 2027, according to an official of Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC).
Bidding for the initial 12 hectares of the 60-hectare Pampanga hub will be conducted once the proposed 2026 Department of Agriculture (DA) budget is approved, CIAC chief strategy officer and urban planner Melissa Feliciano told media at the sidelines of the recent Philippine Logistics Summit by the Procurement and Supply Institute of Asia, Inc.
Feliciano said DA has pledged to fund some components of the project, with an initial funding of P2 billion.
CIAC is already preparing a memorandum of agreement with the DA for the funding and is working on the design of the facility in preparation for the bidding next year.
Operations and maintenance of the facility will also undergo public bidding, Feliciano added.
The target is to complete the first phase, which will include cold storages, food warehouses, support industries, and a first border facility, in 2027.
The Clark National Food Hub will be an agriculture trading hub inside the Clark Civil Aviation Complex—operated by CIAC—that will support the national government’s vision to make the Philippines a leading agricultural resource hub in the region and the world. The project is designed to be the Philippines’ premium wholesale market and distribution hub for quality produce.
Last year, CIAC, DA, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the food hub, which actualizes the first strategy under the DTI three-year food logistics action agenda.
The three-year food logistics action agenda, approved by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in August 2023, is aimed at transforming the country’s food distribution system, reducing transport and logistics costs, and ensuring food supply chain efficiency.
CIAC last year also signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank and the Public-Private Partnership Center to provide technical advisory services in preparing, structuring, and procuring a concessionaire for the project.
On the legislative side, a House bill that will create the Clark National Food Hub has been approved by two Lower House committees during the 19th Congress prior to its adjournment. Feliciano said there is a plan to refile the bill in the upcoming Congress.
Feliciano said the Clark Food Hub is a “revolutionary project” that aims to ensure a stable supply chain that will address and ensure food security, price transparency, and food safety. It will provide a comprehensive range of services such as food warehousing, cold storage, processing, marketing and trading for both local and international markets.
They will also leverage the transport network available nearby, including Clark International Airport for highly-perishable products, and Subic port.
The project’s second phase, which includes packaging and processing facilities, would likely take another five years, for completion by 2032, CIAC earlier said.
