ANGELES CITY – “This is an act of God already telling us where to put the airport.”
Thus, said Ruperto Cruz, chairman of the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM), pointing to the flooded streets leading to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last Tuesday as the unceasing rains brought about by Typhoon Maring and the southwest monsoon caused massive floods in Metro Manila and other Luzon provinces.
Airline passengers whose flights were scheduled on that day braved the flooded streets with their luggage in tow paying pedicab drivers at least P700 just to get to the airport since all roads leading to it were rendered impassable due to the floods. Their woes were compounded when prevailing weather conditions cancelled a number of flights stranding them at the terminal.
As the inclement weather worsened, several flights were once again diverted to the Clark International Airport (CIA).
According to the NAIA’s Media Affairs Division, a total of 88 domestic and international flights have been grounded and five others were diverted to the CIA last Tuesday. This is not the first time that flights were diverted to the CIA.
Earlier last Saturday, an empty Quantas airline A380, described as the largest commercial aircraft in the world, was diverted to the CIA because of congestion at the NAIA.
Cruz said this is already an act of God and he is already showing us what to do. It is high time to fully develop the CIA and do away with piecemeal construction like what is happening now, he added.
He said, “here (CIA) we have an airport that can be comparable to, if not even surpass, some major airports in the world if it is fully developed.”
Cruz also pointed to Sangley Point in Cavite City, which was reported to be the future site of a major seaport and an international airport that that will be within a 20-minute distance from Metro Manila as another blunder for the government to consider.
Cruz said news reports showed that much of Cavite was also flooded. “It will be disastrous to put an airport there. It will also inconvenience a lot of airline passengers from Central and Northern Luzon,” he said.
Cruz said the CIA already exists and every study made pointed to it as the best location for a premier international gateway of the country. Its immediate environs, the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat and the towns of Magalang and Porac in Pampanga as well as Bamban and Capas in Tarlac are virtually flood-free, he said.
The PGKM is an advocacy group based in this city that has long been advocating for the full and immediate development of the CIA.
