ANGELES CITY – Residents of Pampanga, including members of a group pushing for full development of the Clark International Airport (CIA) as the country’s next premiere gateway, were disappointed after President Aquino failed to mention the CIA in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
Aquino cited the government’s aggressive plans to improve the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City and other provincial airports, including Palawan.
Ruperto “Perto” Cruz, chairman of the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) which has lobbied for the development of the CIA since the 1990s, said he received a call from newspaper columnist Lourdes “Deedee” Siytangco on Tuesday and they spoke about the CIA and Aquino’s 3rd SONA. Siytangco was a close confidant of the late President Corazon Aquino and her children.
Cruz said Siytangco called him up shortly after arriving from Canada and told him that Aquino did not mention the CIA in his SONA because “it’s a done deal.”
“I was told by Deedee that the president need not repeat in the SONA his instructions to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to fully prepare and develop the Clark airport,” said Cruz.
He cited the statements of DOTC Sec. Mar Roxas last June during the launching of Philippines AirAsia’ flights to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia here when the cabinet secretary announced that Aquino endorsed the P12 -billion budget terminal at the CIA.
Cruz said Roxas and Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President and CEO Victor Jose Luciano “apparently defied” the order of Aquino to develop the 2,400-hectare Clark Aviation Complex and its airport.
“There’s not even a drawing of any planned terminal,” Cruz said.
Cruz decried the DOTC’s recent approval of P100 million budget for a feasibility study of the CIA as “a delaying tactic.”
“What’s there to study? Luciano has been at Clark for many years and it seems he is always back to the drawing board,” said Cruz.
The PGKM chairman said Roxas has been with the DOTC for about one year and he must have done significant projects for the CIA. He added that he had received reports that Roxas as acting chairman of the CIAC board had not attended even just a single board meeting since last year.
“It’s all lip service on the part of Luciano and Roxas. Worse, President Aquino’s good intentions and plans for Clark and nearby provinces had been derailed by the persistent perception that Roxas and Luciano are delaying the full development of our airport ,” said Cruz.
Cruz said that if Roxas and Luciano “are sincere they must post billboards to show to the public the plans of the new planned terminals at Clark.”
“What if they used all the funds and we end up with a poor airport terminal. Who do we run after? Besides, it’s a must to be open and transparent when government projects are involved,” said Cruz.
