Information and news about the USAID Growth with Equity in Mindanao III (GEM 3) Project

The F-28 presidential plane with President Gloria Macapagal-.Arroyo on board lands at the newly upgraded Jolo Airport runway. The airport upgrade, which was undertaken by a partnership between the Philippine and U.S. governments, including the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, through its Regional Impact Project (RIP) component. The runway was extended from 1,200 meters to 1,845 meters and widened from 18 meters to 30 meters, and is now all concrete. It can accommodate larger-bodied aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s—and the F-28, the biggest aircraft that has landed at the airport to date. USAID’s GEM Program is expected to construct fifteen more RIPs in the next three years, primarily in the ARMM and other conflict-affected areas in Mindanao (CAAM), under the oversight of the Mindanao Economic Development Council.