CLARK FREEPORT – Contrary to criticisms that the Aquino administration has put the airport here to the backburner, Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President-CEO Victor Jose Luciano said funds are literally raining for the development of the airport.
Luciano reported that the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) has already obligated funds for the construction of the P7.2 billion low cost carrier (LCC) terminal which Phase 1, costing P3.5 billion is slated to start in the second quarter.
The design is now being done by the firm Aeroports de Paris. He also said P600 million has also been released for the passenger boarding bridge at the Clark International Airport (CIA) whose departure area, he noted, is even better than Macau’s.
This is on top of a new lounge for VIP’s, he added The CIA will also replace its 18-year-old instrument landing system (ILS) for a modern version that, Luciano said, would be the best of its kind in the country. The new ILS would cost P200 million, he added.
Luciano said that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), which took over the CIAC from the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) over a year ago, has acted as guarantor for the P1-billion loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) which the BCDA initially guaranteed for the development of the CIA.
Already, the bidding for the P100-million, 24-kilometer perimeter lighting system has been slated for a highly secured fence, he also said. Luciano also reported the purchase of a fi retruck with a “highreach extendable turret” that could reach into an aircraft’s tank to contain fire safely. “It’s the only one of its kind in the Philippines,”
he noted.
He said he expected more airlines to launch flights here as he noted that the lifespan of already congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) would last only up to 2018 due to arising congestion amid worldwide increase in fl ights. “Beyond 2018, it will no longer grow,” he added.
There have been critics accusing Pres. Aquino of shelving the development plans for Clark which used to be named after the father of former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who has remained under hospital arrest related to various charges filed against her by the Aquino administration.
