“YOU HAVE to give it to Victor Jose “Chichos” Luciano, still – or is steeled more apt? – president-CEO of the Clark International Airport Corp.

“Since Day One of his watch, Chichos has remained steadfast, if not obstinate, in his faith in the potential, aye, the destiny of the Clark International Airport to be  a truly international airport, if not the premier global gateway of the country.”

We appropriated here the very opening lines of Bong Lacson’s Zona Libre column last Thursday, affirmative as they are of the most current of events at the CIA, the airport not the US premier espionage agency, that is.

International passenger traffic at the CIA reached 725,023 for 2011 – a 19 percent increase over the 607,704 of 2010.    

For the month of December 2011 alone, a total of 80,802 international passengers made Clark their gateway to the Philippines.

“This is an accomplishment for the (CIA) as it is the first time that a tremendous increase in international passenger volume was achieved and in a month alone in December.” So Luciano enthused, attributing this to the surge of overseas Filipino workers and balikbayans coming home for the holidays.

Luciano said that since 2003, the Clark airport has already serviced more than 3.5 million international passengers, and with the current trend, that may reach five million by the end of the current year.

“This only shows that the Clark airport is being recognized around the world. (And with that) we will experience an exponential growth in passenger volume in the next five to seven years,” Luciano said.

Hence the pressing need to upgrade the passenger terminal which in its present state can only accommodate up to 2.5 million passengers annually.

Thus plans underway for a separate P12-billion new budget terminal with an annual passenger capacity of 10 million.

Yes, you have to give it to Luciano. Making this good amid all the brickbats thrown at him – from innuendoes to open allegations, from verbal slurs to complaints – principally coming from one upstart of a CIAC deputy whose only claim to his post is his self-proclaimed closeness to the powers that be.

Luciano essentially makes an Admiral David Farragut here: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” All, for a truly, truly premier gateway that is the CIA.