(Workers start clearing debris from the collapsed ceiling of the check-in area. Photo Courtesy of Jojo Due)
DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – Except for the ceiling of the check-in counters at the departure area and some minor cracks on the second floor, no other part of this airport complex sustained major damages due to the magnitude 6.1 earthquake that struck Luzon island at 5:11 p.m. on Monday.
“The good news is the tower can be operated. It has not sustained any substantial damage. The runway and the apron and the taxi ways are all sound,” Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president/ CEO Jaime Alberto Melo said on Tuesday.
“The horizontal infrastructures, the road surface of the airport has no problem,” he added.
“The vertical, the tower is already declared safe by an inspection team of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) building officials,” he said.
“The terminal is now being assessed. So, once the terminal is considered safe, it will be immediately repaired,” Melo pointed out. “The repair crews are already on hand,” he added.
“So, we will decide what will be prioritized for repair for partial operation,” he said. “We will try for partial operation today,” he added.
Melo met the press at the departure area here after completing the inspection of the runway, taxi ways and the airport tower with the CDC and CAAP building officials.
Melo also said the electric power in the entire airport complex has been restored. “But we did not switch it on because the electricals in the departure area are still yet to be repaired,” he said.
Meanwhile, CDC president Noel F. Manankil said as of 10:30 p.m. yesterday all utilities are restored and the roads are all passable.
“We’re doing more assessments of structures inside Clark. But so far, they are all operational and we have advised all the locators to ensure safety regarding the integrity of their structures before allowing their employees to report for work,” Manankil said.
“But all our efforts now is on Clark airport. We will join hands for the opening of the airport,” he said.
Bases Conversion Development Authority vice president Jake Bingcang assured that “as early as last night there was already an initial assessment of the facilities undergoing construction and no damage has been found.” He added that construction is ongoing but safety precautions have been in place.
