 Concurrent though with the planning of the new airport , the Japan International Cooperation Agency ( JICA ) initiated a study on the master planning and long @-@ term development plans of four key domestic airports in the Philippines . The report cited Mandurriao Airport , Bacolod City Domestic Airport , Legazpi Airport and Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City as these key domestic airports , noting the high growth of passenger and cargo volume there and the eventual need for expansion . Heeding the recommendations of the JICA report , President Joseph Estrada signed a memorandum in November 1998 creating the Iloilo Airport Coordinating Committee , headed by Iloilo @-@ born senator Franklin Drilon . The coordinating committee decided that a new airport was needed for Iloilo City as Mandurriao Airport was deemed <unk> due to operational obstacles and the presence of slums and other natural and civic structures that would restrict expansion efforts . In addition , the committee , objecting to the idea that the new airport would serve merely as a reliever for the new Bacolod airport , successfully lobbied for an international airport to be built in lieu of a domestic one . The project finally received NEDA approval in March 2000 , with Cabatuan as the location of the new airport based on a study performed by both the DOTC and the JICA later that year . 
