ANGELES CITY – Vice Gov. Joseller “Yeng” Guiao on Monday stressed the need for a “champion congressman” from Pampanga who will aggressively push for the full development of the Clark International Airport (CIA) as the country’s major gateway.
“The international airport should be transferred from Manila to Clark,” said Guiao, who was interviewed at the opening of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) office at the Ayala-owned Marquee Mall here.
“Metro Manila is too crowded,” added the three-term vice governor who will run for congress as representative of Pampanga’s First District composed of Angeles and Mabalacat cities and Magalang town.
Guiao said if he wins, he will immediately lay out his plan of action to convince President Aquino through the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to prioritize the development of the CIA and the construction of the high-speed train linking Clark to Metro Manila.
He said Aquino “very much favors the development of the Clark airport but he is quite shy because he is from Tarlac.”
The president’s hometown of Concepcion in Tarlac is some 15 minutes travel time from the CIA via the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).
The CIA’s development as the next international gateway, added Guiao, will “tremendously” bring about economic progress not just in Pampanga, Tarlac and other provinces in Central Luzon but in the entire North Luzon.
The some 4,500-hectare land area of Clark Freeport sits mostly on Mabalacat and Angeles. The Clark Aviation Complex, whose runway was designed to handle the US Space Shuttle and the largest planes, is about 2,400 hectares.
MVP FACTOR
“Then there is MVP,” said Guiao, referring to business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan who openly expressed interest to invest billions of pesos on Clark for its airport and the high-speed train that will run through the MVP group-controlled North Luzon Expressway, the latter as suggested by Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) Ruperto Cruz.
Guiao said he will rally other congressmen, governors and local officials to make a common stand in pushing for the development of the airport named after the former US military base.
“As I said, it will benefit all. So it’s teamwork we need,” said Guiao, coach of Rain or Shine which is leading, 3-1, against B-Meg in the on-going Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) best-of-seven championship series.
There are at least 300 flights weekly at the CIA and its officials say they expect some 1.4 million passengers this year.
It registered a growth of at least 54 percent in passenger volume in the first few months of 2012 compared to the same period last year.
Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President and CEO Victor Jose Luciano announced that Zest Airways Inc. will go back to Clark on October 28 and initially offer flights to Hong Kong. Other airlines offering most flights at the CIA are Philippines AirAsia and Cebu Pacific Air.
The Gokongwei-owned Cebu Pacific made Clark its 4th hub in the country in 2006, offering flights to Cebu.
Two years later, it included Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok in Thailand as regional destinations.
Last year, AirAsia made Clark its hub in the country. They now have daily flights to Palawan, Davao City and Kalibo in Aklan (Boracay) and daily international flights to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau.
–Joey Pavia
