“THIS YEAR, 2011, the CIAC has not joined the Hot Air Balloon (Festival). We believe that the project is not in focus with the priorities of CIAC which are to accelerate the development of the airport and woo more airlines to fly to Clark.
For 2010, when CIAC became a partner in the project, through my own efforts, singlehandedly I raised P5.5 million from sponsors which very well covered the P3.5 million payment to Joy Roa.”
Quick was the text response of Clark International Airport Corp. President-CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano to our column Ballooned fetid air here Monday.
We sense here full vindication of our stand that the hot air balloon festival is inimical to the full development of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.
Nowhere in the world can you find an airport, an international one at that, as hot air ballooning site. What airline would dare share air space with hot air balloons? If even the lowly pipit could pose danger to aircraft, how much more those big balloons?
Safe to say here that balloons are a negation to the prospects of aviation.
"As I wrote here last year too in response to the Clark Development Corp.’s trumpeting “Hot Air Fest Highlights Clark Role in Tourism”: “Verily, the hot air balloon festival is a direct indictment of the failure of the CDC and the Clark International Airport Corp. to launch the Clark Freeport and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport to their proper niches, as capital- and labor-intensive, export-oriented investment zone for the former; as premier international airport for the latter.
So, where in the world can you find an economic zone and an international airport hosting a hot air balloon festival? Onli in da Pilipins, as the urban idiot is wont to say.
On second thought though, the CDC is right: Hot Air Fest Highlights Clark Role in Tourism. The Freeport and the DMIA be damned.
Ustu ya pero e makatud, as an old Kapampangan adage holds.”
Fully appreciated is Chichos’ feedback. This assuming greater significance with a contemporaneous CIAC press release of the Manny V. Pangilinan seriously eyeing DMIA development.
“During our discussion, MVP expressed support for the development of DMIA, particularly the establishment of a world-class railway system that would link DMIA to Metro Manila,” said Luciano after what could be considered an “exploratory lunch” he had with the business mogul last January 3 at a Clark Freeport restaurant.
Chichos added that Pangilinan – who traces his roots to the town of Apalit, if you did not know yet – “is fully supportive of the development of the DMIA to be the country’s premier international gateway. This is a welcome development for the airport that will benefit not only the Clark Freeport and its contiguous regions but the rest of the country.”
Sometime last year, Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) was reported to have made its intention to bid for the DMIA Terminal 2 project in the wake of the controversial scrapping of the Kuwaiti Al Kharafi (mis)deal. Industry sources said then that the MPIC was even entering into a joint venture with the San Miguel Beer Corp. for the Clark airport project which will have as corollary the construction of a railway system that will run in the middle of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) which is run by a Pangilinan company.
Now, these are the developments we like to see at Clark, not the balloons inflated with noxious gasses out of CDC’s asses.
For 2010, when CIAC became a partner in the project, through my own efforts, singlehandedly I raised P5.5 million from sponsors which very well covered the P3.5 million payment to Joy Roa.”
Quick was the text response of Clark International Airport Corp. President-CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano to our column Ballooned fetid air here Monday.
We sense here full vindication of our stand that the hot air balloon festival is inimical to the full development of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.
Nowhere in the world can you find an airport, an international one at that, as hot air ballooning site. What airline would dare share air space with hot air balloons? If even the lowly pipit could pose danger to aircraft, how much more those big balloons?
Safe to say here that balloons are a negation to the prospects of aviation.
"As I wrote here last year too in response to the Clark Development Corp.’s trumpeting “Hot Air Fest Highlights Clark Role in Tourism”: “Verily, the hot air balloon festival is a direct indictment of the failure of the CDC and the Clark International Airport Corp. to launch the Clark Freeport and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport to their proper niches, as capital- and labor-intensive, export-oriented investment zone for the former; as premier international airport for the latter.
So, where in the world can you find an economic zone and an international airport hosting a hot air balloon festival? Onli in da Pilipins, as the urban idiot is wont to say.
On second thought though, the CDC is right: Hot Air Fest Highlights Clark Role in Tourism. The Freeport and the DMIA be damned.
Ustu ya pero e makatud, as an old Kapampangan adage holds.”
Fully appreciated is Chichos’ feedback. This assuming greater significance with a contemporaneous CIAC press release of the Manny V. Pangilinan seriously eyeing DMIA development.
“During our discussion, MVP expressed support for the development of DMIA, particularly the establishment of a world-class railway system that would link DMIA to Metro Manila,” said Luciano after what could be considered an “exploratory lunch” he had with the business mogul last January 3 at a Clark Freeport restaurant.
Chichos added that Pangilinan – who traces his roots to the town of Apalit, if you did not know yet – “is fully supportive of the development of the DMIA to be the country’s premier international gateway. This is a welcome development for the airport that will benefit not only the Clark Freeport and its contiguous regions but the rest of the country.”
Sometime last year, Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) was reported to have made its intention to bid for the DMIA Terminal 2 project in the wake of the controversial scrapping of the Kuwaiti Al Kharafi (mis)deal. Industry sources said then that the MPIC was even entering into a joint venture with the San Miguel Beer Corp. for the Clark airport project which will have as corollary the construction of a railway system that will run in the middle of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) which is run by a Pangilinan company.
Now, these are the developments we like to see at Clark, not the balloons inflated with noxious gasses out of CDC’s asses.
