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May 30, 2008
DR.
ERNESTO M. PERNIA, Ph.D.
College of
Economics
University of
the Philippines
Diliman,
Quezon City
AN
APPEAL FOR PROGRESS
(A Response to
Dr. Ernesto Pernia, et al.)
Dear
Dr. Pernia:
This is in
response to your paid advertisement in
The Bohol Chronicle
issue on May 4 ultimo
entitled “An Appeal for Clarification on the
Proposed Panglao Airport .”
I would not
have dignified the unsigned appeal with a
response after former Gov. Rene L.
Relampagos, Atty. Raul Barbarona and Atty.
Isabelo M. Sales Jr. denied their
participation or even consulted on such
appeal, and when one Engr. Nilo Sarigumba
admitted in the radio program that, indeed,
he did not consult them on the issue.
Lately, I
discovered also that prominent Boholano
businessman, Frederick Ong of the Bohol
Quality Corporation, was included despite
the fact that he did not know of the
“appeal” because he was abroad. Similarly,
17 names in the May 4 ad disappeared in the
subsequent signed advertisement.
However, I am
sending you this clarification due to my
respect to you as a man of stature and a
fellow Boholano.
In capsule, I
wish to provide you the following facts on
the proposed Panglao Bohol International
Airport (PBIA) Development Project.
NO
ODA LOAN FOR PBIA
The
estimated
P4.2-billion Panglao
Bohol International
Airport will
be the
only international
airport to be constructed by the national
government without any Official Development
Assistance (ODA) loan according to President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Secretary
Leandro Mendoza.
The Manila
International Airport Authority (MIAA) will
provide P3 billion from its corporate funds,
and the Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC) the balance of P1.2
billion from its appropriation, which cover
also the land acquisition of about 211.5
hectares for the project and other
pre-construction expenditures.
ECONOMIC VIABILITY
Per
feasibility study conducted by TCGI
Engineers and validated by the Regional
Development Council and NEDA Region 7, the
airport has an economic internal rate of
return (EIRR) of 23.6%. This is higher than
the NEDA threshold of 15% after considering
that the airport can be fully harnessed for
chartered flights of tourists from foreign
lands in addition to regular domestic,
regional and international flights.
As of this
writing, the Tagbilaran Airport has six
flights, three each by PAL and Cebu Pacific,
despite its area limitation and natural
risks.
Incidentally,
the PBIA project has been approved by the
NEDA Board and Cabinet Group.
The airport –
originally conceptualized as a domestic
airport with international standards – will
be constructed in two phases: Phase 1, with
a runway of 2.5 kilometers with the
necessary facilities as Package 1, and a
terminal building with the attached
facilities as Package 2.
Phase 2 – to
be constructed much later – will be the
extension of the runway and allied
facilities with an additional one kilometer
and a much larger terminal building and
cargo area, to accommodate bigger aircrafts
such as the Airbus 340, Boeing 747 and
Airbus 380.
The airport’s
classification has been elevated to
international by the Medium Term Development
Plan drafted by NEDA during the watch of
then Director-General Romulo L. Neri and
approved by the NEDA Board and Cabinet.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
The airport is
located in Panglao town traversing through
barangays Lourdes , Bolod and Danao which is
about 32o from the original
alignment of Lourdes-Bolod-Tawala to Alona
Beach .
The site
selection was done after a series of studies
conducted by the Swedish Aviation Authority
and the European Union consultants
commissioned for the purpose by DOTC and
DOT, respectively.
The PBIA –
according to the Civil Aviation Authority of
the Philippines (CAAP), formerly Air
Transportation Office – would be
complementary to the Mactan Cebu
International Airport (MCIA), the former
being the nearest international airport to
the latter.
Contrary to
your claim in media, with due respect,
Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro airports are not
international airports. In fact, they are
classified by CAAP as domestic airports and
there is no international flight therein.
Thus, they cannot complement the
requirements in times of emergency situation
of the MCIA.
It may
interest you to know also that Panglao has a
much bigger land area of 9,825 hectares
compared to Mactan Island with 7,385
hectares. The area in Panglao for the PBIA
is only 211.5 hectares which is about 2.15%
of the Panglao Island land mass.
BOHOL:
STAND ALONE TOURISM DESTINATION
President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Department
of Tourism have considered Bohol as a stand
alone tourism destination in the global
roadmap which necessitated the construction
of the PBIA. The province, by reason of its
eco-cultural heritage endowments and agri-tourism
potentials, has been projected as a major
player in the development of the Central
Philippines Super Region tourism industry.
The six
flights daily of Philippine Airlines and
Cebu Pacific Air at the Tagbilaran Airport
cannot meet the travel requirements of
tourists and businessmen to Bohol . The very
limited airport space, hazardous Maribojoc
mountain range and the Dayo mountains in
Dauis, as well as the tremendous
P6.522-billion requirements for its
upgrading are major constrains for the
further development of the Tagbilaran
Airport .
The airport
limitation has compelled King Mswati III of
Swaziland to cancel his trip to Bohol
because the Tagbilaran Airport cannot
accommodate his aircraft without disrupting
the daily flights therein.
Thus, the need
to hasten the PBIA construction and
operation as well.
With Bohol’s
strategic location, the PBIA is likewise
envisioned to be the entry point of tourists
to Dumaguete City , Siquijor, Dipolog and
Camiguin, given the fast ferries linking
presently the province to these neighboring
areas.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL PREPARATIONS
The PBIA
underwent the necessary environmental impact
assessment (EIA) study, generating a series
of consultations and meetings in the
municipality of Panglao . This is a
pre-condition for the issuance of the
environmental clearance certificate (ECC) by
DENR-EMB for the project.
Similarly,
social preparations have been conducted. In
fact, it is still an ongoing concern
undertaken by the Center for Integrated
Development and Social Marketing, Inc. The
activity led to the organization into a
cooperative of the airport landowners and
the laying of the fundamentals of mitigating
measures for some perceived social problems
that may arise as a consequence of
development and progress.
Parenthetically, no one from the alleged
signatories of your May 4 appeal came out to
oppose the PBIA during the series of
consultations on environment and social
preparations.
PBIA
ACCEPTABILITY
The Panglao
airport was conceived 20 years ago by the
Torralba-Aumentado administration. The UP
PLANADES made the initial study thereon,
with other projects. The subsequent
Tirol-Relampagos and Relampagos-Chatto
administrations pursued it with their
acquisition of about 65 hectares of land
with funding from DOTC and DOT for the
purpose.
The project
hugged the headlines of local newspapers,
especially The Bohol
Chronicle, and the airlanes bannered
by radio stations DYRD and
DYTR. No one of the ad
signatories then came out against the
project, perhaps believing that it was only
a pipe dream which cannot be realized.
The airport
project became the subject of the reputable
Holy Name University Research Center 2006
Bohol Poll. The survey came out with the
finding that 99% of the Boholanos favored
the Panglao Airport Development Project. The
poll result was well-publicized in media.
In the 2007
elections, the
Aumentado-Herrera-Chatto-Cajes-Jala ticket
made the Panglao Bohol International Airport
Development Project as a major issue in the
entire province. The pro-Panglao airport
ticket won with a landslide sweeping
victory. In fact, a signatory for the
appeal, Engr. Nilo Sarigumba, was a poor
tail-ender out of nine candidates for Board
Member in the 3rd District of
Bohol.
Similarly, the
then incumbent Panglao town mayor Doloreich
Dumaluan, who openly opposed the project,
was resoundingly defeated with a whopping
loss of over 2,000 votes – the biggest in
the history of the town.
The foregoing
clearly manifests the overwhelming
acceptability of the Panglao Bohol
International Airport Project by the people
of Bohol .
PBIA:
MAGNET OF DEVELOPMENT
Undoubtedly,
the PBIA would lead to more developments in
Panglao island and the Province of Bohol .
Side by side
with the airport construction will be
undertaken the road and causeway improvement
projects to avoid traffic gridlock once the
airport will be operational. It will be
followed by the establishment of drainage
and sewerage system, water and power
development. It is even expected to trigger
the early implementation of the Bohol
Circumferential Road Improvement Project
Phase 3 (BCRIP 3) which work covers the
Panglao-Tagbilaran-Baclayon road links as
Package 1 and the Anda Peninsula highways (Guindulman-Anda-Cogtong-Candijay-Mabini-Ubay)
as Package 2. Anda will be the next tourism
destination to be developed.
Undoubtedly,
more investments for hotels and resorts,
such as the P1.2-billion Bohol Regency and
Convention Center, a sister facility of the
Boracay Regency Resort and Convention
Center, will be established in Panglao. The
key players of the tourism industry such as
international chains of resorts and hotels
are expected to be not far behind.
For more
specific developments, please find a copy of
my letter dated May 24 ultimo
to Director Marlene Rodriguez of NEDA which
is self-explanatory.
It cannot be
denied that the pouring of more investments
in the province will generate more jobs,
livelihood and wider economic opportunities
for our people.
AN
APPEAL FOR PROGRESS
I am sad to
note that your opposition to the airport
project comes at a time when it is in the
process of implementation. In fact, the
President laid the time capsule for the
project on May 20 ultimo.
I am sure that
you share our vision for a greater and
progressive Bohol . The establishment of the
PBIA is one of the golden opportunities for
us to push Bohol forward. And this is one
opportunity that we must not miss for our
beloved province. Let us remember that
opportunity knocks but once.
I am therefore
appealing to your love for Bohol and your
statesmanship not to rock the boat while it
is on its steady course to progress.
Thank you and
may God bless you always!
Very truly
yours,
Cf
Dr. Jose V. Abueva GM
Alfonso Cusi
President,
Kalayaan College MIAA
Administration Building
Riverbanks
Center , Marikina City Old
MIA Road , Pasay City
Dean Napoleon V. Abueva Professor
Caesar Saloma
Kalayaan
College UP
College of Economics
Riverbanks Center, Marikina
City Diliman, Quzon
City
Mons.
Feliciano Nalzaro Jr. Mr.
Natalio R. Castillo Jr.
Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary Moto
Norte, Loon, Bohol
Taloto,
Tagbilaran City
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