CLARK FREEPORT—The time is now for the full development of the Clark International Airport (CIA) as it remains the most practical and economical way to immediately address the problems besetting the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.
This is the position of the close to a thousand foreign and local companies that make up the Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) after last week’s accident involving a Xiamen Air Boeing 737 forced the closure of NAIA’s main runway and resulted in flight delays and cancellations that left thousands of passengers stranded.
In a statement, the CILA said the incident should convince both the public and private sectors that the full development of the Clark airport should be fast-tracked as it remains the best alternative to the NAIA.
“Like the rest of Metro Manila, NAIA is already congested and has been operating beyond its capacity for decades,” CILA Chair Irineo “Bong” Alvaro, Jr. said.
“The Clark airport is the most practical and economical choice for our future international gateway.”
“Clark is the practical choice not only because of its proximity to Manila but also because it has more than enough room for expansion,” Alvaro pointed in describing the advantages of moving airport operations to the 2,400-hectare airport complex at the former American air base located 80 kilometers north of Manila.
“It is also economical in the sense that only a little amount of time and few billion pesos is all that is needed to fully develop the Clark airport complex compared to constructing a new airport in Bulacan, Cavite or elsewhere,” he pointed out.
Alvaro said the national government should not stop with the construction of a second terminal at Clark that would increase the airport’s capacity from the current four million to 12 million passengers per year.
He said the government should now make plans for the construction of a third runway that would expand its capacity to 80 million passengers.
Alvaro said the Duterte Administration’s Build, Build, Build Program should be able to address the public works and transportation requirements for the full operationalization of the Clark airport.
He said these government initiatives will complement the ongoing development of the Clark New City as well as the projects being undertaken by Filinvest, Global Gateway (Udena), BB international and Dongwang.
The CILA Chair said the Clark Freeport is among the preferred investment centers in the country with its locators providing employment to more than 100,000 people.
“Many of these investors are investing billions of pesos in infrastructure development and in the next five years, Clark will inevitably become the country’s “next gateway,” Alvaro said.
“In addition to such name brands as Texas Instrument, Samsung and Yokohama that have established their operations in this freeport, we will also be seeing Hyatt, Hilton and Marriot in the coming months,” Alvaro added.
