CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – Just two days before delivering his valedictory speech as president of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), Alexander Cauguiran hailed members of the Committee on Transportation of the House of Representatives for approving two bills proposing to rename this airport back to Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA).
“We are grateful to the authors of the proposed bills and the panel members for honoring the late great President of the republic,” Cauguiran said after the committee unanimously approved the proposals.
Cauguiran was invited by the House panel as resource speaker during the hearing on House Bill Nos. 2274 and 8289.
The proposed measures were supported by the Provincial Government of Pampanga and the Pampangueños for “institutionalizing the old name of the airport in honor of the former President and his accomplishments and contributions to the country,” committee chair Camarines Rep. Cesar Sarmiento said.
Prior to the conduct of the said hearing, separate resolutions from the local government units of Angeles and Mabalacat cities seeking to rename Clark airport were passed.
3rd District Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. filed HB 2274 while the other bill was filed by House Majority Leader Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., Sagip Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, 1st District Rep. Carmelo Lazatin II, and Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap.
Macapagal was the ninth president of the Philippines and the first Kapampangan to hold that post. His legacies included land reform and the shifting of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12.
Macapagal is the father of House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the 14th president of the republic.
Clark airport used to be part of the former Clark Air Base of the United States 13th Air Force until its closure in 1991.
By virtue of Republic Act 7227, or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, former President Fidel V. Ramos converted it into the Clark Special Economic Zone and established CIAC to manage it.
“Renaming Clark airport to Diosdado Macapagal is consistent with the guideline of the National Historical Commission which says the renaming of public structures already named after presidents or national heroes cannot be replaced with names of people of lesser importance,” Cauguiran said.
Clark was named in honor of Major Harold Clark of the US Army Signal Corps who died in a seaplane in the Panama Canal in 1919. It can be recalled that the Board of Directors of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) in 2001 already renamed Clark airport to DMIA but was reverted to the name Clark during the “lamentable” Aquino administration.
Cauguiran is set to deliver his valedictory speech at the CIAC today (Friday) in preparation for the filing of his certificate of candidacy for mayor of Angeles City.
