That may sum up the reaction of local chief executives to the executive order bringing back the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) into the fold of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).
EO No. 14 signed on February 28 by President Duterte basically overturns an EO signed by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2011 which placed CIAC under the then Department of Transportation and Communication, now Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Mabalacat City Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales said: “The full economic development of Clark and its environs as well as the Pampanga megalopolis as an economic counter magnet to Metro Manila as envisioned by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Gov. Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda is anchored on the full utilization of CIAC.”
Morales said it does not matter whether CIAC is with BCDA or the DOTr as long as the Clark airport will be fully developed. He said, “Clark airport’s capacity to accommodate more tourists with the new airport terminal is a necessity.”
“The time is now!” he added.
Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan acknowledged EO 14 with a welcome note but said he is more inclined with the move to make Clark an authority to free it from political influencesand independent to plot its own development.
Pamintuan manifested his statement through his spokesman, Jay Pelayo on Tuesday.
Capas, Tarlac Mayor Rey Catacutan has not replied to text messages and calls for his reaction. Catacutan is the former executive vice president of CIAC.
Duterte’s EO returns CIAC as a subsidiary of the BCDA but maintains the DOTr’s full supervisory function over the Clark International Airport (CIA) on policies and operations.
Section 2 of EO 14 states that the ownership of CIAC shall be transferred to the BCDA which means that all CIAC shares currently owned by the national government and its nominee stockholders shall be transferred to the BCDA and its nominee stockholders.
EO 14 further states that it is necessary “to ensure that the development of CCAC (Clark Civil Aviation Complex) remains parallel with the development of CFZ (Clark Freeport Zone) as a premier investment and promotions destination.”
