ANGELES CITY – So where’s its P7.2-billion funding?The Clark Green City (CGC) is nothing but “plain publicity stunt” of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) to hide its inadequacies and failures.
Thus, said the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM), an advocacy group calling for the full and immediate development of the Clark International Airport (CIA), after reports came out that the BCDA would not spend for the development of the envisioned CGC but instead start bidding out contracts covering its long-term lease and development without cost to the government.
The PGKM noted: “First there was an announcement of P7.2 billion funding for the CGC. Now the government won’t even spend anything but would only auction it to investors.” “What should we believe?” asked PGKM chair Ruperto Cruz.
“What results are we expecting here when (BCDA President-CEO Arnel Paciano) Casanova has less than two years left in office?” “This only proves that the BCDA is bankrupt of ideas,” Cruz said. Cruz noted that Casanova much earlier said the CGC was up for approval at the National Economic and Development Authority which serves as a clearing house for impact government projects that required immense funding, be it from the government or local and international funding agencies.
“Why should the Green City need the ap- PGKM: Clark Green City is plain publicity stunt proval of NEDA when the government won’t spend a single centavo for its development? It’s clearly a publicity stunt,” said Cruz.
Addressing Casanova, Cruz said: “You have been in your positions in government for so long since the start of the Aquino administration, and yet you have nothing to show. Why is it only now that you are moving for the development of the sub-zone?”
This, even as he twitted Casanova for his alleged indifference in the development of the Clark airport as premier international gateway, which he said is pivotal to any development in the Clark Freeport, “the subzone where the CGC is planned included.”
Cruz said the CGC, “even in the unlikelihood that it really does take shape,” is “destined to be a white elephant like the Expo Pilipino,” because the key to attracting investors is the airport. “Everything is now dependent on the (Clark) airport because without it, no one will come,” Cruz said.
The PGKM has said that the Clark airport will be a magnet for investments if it is fully developed into an international airport that could accommodate at least 50 million passengers annually.
Sangley
The PGKM also questioned the P436 billion estimated cost to construct the new Sangley airport in Cavite City. Cruz said if only a fraction of the money will be allocated to the railway system connecting Clark and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, then the problem of congestion in the latter would have been dramatically solved.
“It’s cheaper, doable and can be done in much lesser time,” Cruz said, noting the enthusiasm of MVP (Manny Pangilinan) to put up the railway alongside the North Luzon Expressway which belongs to his business conglomerate.
Pangilinan has said that all he waited for is a “clear-cut policy on Clark” from the government. “If P10 billion is given to the Clark airport for the development of its peripherals, the railway system will certainly be actualized,” said Cruz.
“But the problem with (Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio) Abaya is his eyes are closed and his ears are closed to the feasibility and efficacy of the Clark airport as premier international gateway,” Cruz said.
“Blinded and deafened as he is by personal, vested interest owing to his Caviteno bias.”
Colayco
Meanwhile, Cruz said “if the only reason for the Green City is to duplicate the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) as Casanova is saying, why not just tap Rufo Colayco?” He said Colayco, being the architect of the BGC and the Subic Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), would do more to develop the CGC project.
Colayco, a fund manager, is former president and CEO of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) under former president Estrada in 1998 and the BCDA from 2002 to 2004. He is now the general manager of the Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. which holds office at the nearby Clark Freeport.
Colayco braintrusted the so-called “Subic- Clark synergy” that effected the construction of the 94-kilometer SCTEx and worked for its approval at the NEDA and is also credited as the architect of BGC in Taguig City during his stint at the helm of BCDA.
“At least, Colayco has proven his worth in translating the dynamics of development into actual results most beneficial to government and people,” Cruz said.
