Thus the advocacy group Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) idiomatically called the executives of agencies tasked with the development of this freeport and its airport.
“Instead of developing, Clark has apparently retrogressed under the administration of President Aquino with his handpicked men mishandling their jobs,” PGKM Chairman Ruperto Cruz said.
While he did not categorically name names, Cruz could have referred only to Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President-CEO Arnel Casanova, Clark Development Corp. (CDC) President-CEO Arthur Tugade, and Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President-CEO Emigdio Tanjuatco Jr.
“The bankruptcy of ideas obtaining at Clark is all too patent,” Cruz said, citing as “proof positive” the “deviation of what are being undertaken at Clark from the spirit and letter of RA 7227.”
Republic Act 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Law mandates the development of the former US bases into engines of economic growth through labor-intensive, export-oriented special economic zones to spur the parallel development of the areas contiguous to the former bases.
“So, what do we see now at Clark but the proliferation of service establishments, from gas stations, to restaurants, and the duty-free shops that directly compete with the local establishments outside Clark,” Cruz said.
“Name one big labor- generating investment that came to Clark from 2010 to the present,” Cruz challenged.
Gimmick
Even the BCDA’s proposed blue chip project Clark Green City (CGC) at the Clark sub-zone has been dubbed by the PGKMA as “a grand publicity gimmick” given its being “too late in the day” for the Aquino administration which is on its “last two minutes.”
Cruz noted how Casanova announced a funding of P7.2 billion for the CGC project when it was first disclosed only to say later that the government would not even spend anything but would only auction it to investors.
“If anything, the CGC was Casanova’s way of justifying the continued existence of the BCDA,” Cruz said.
The PGKM has earlier called for the abolition of the BCDA “as it has already outlived its reason for being” which, it said, was the conversion of the former military bases to economic use.
Conspiracy
The PGKM was harshest in its criticisms of what it said as the “conspiracy sabotaging the development of the Clark airport.”
“Instead of increasing, the flights at Clark continue diminishing,” Cruz observed. “AirAsia Philippines, Airphil Express, Emirates, Zest Air have all come, and all are gone now.”
“I can’t help but sense some wilful design of Imperial Manila dragons not only to take the flights out of Clark but even to altogether deprive Clark of its primary asset as an international gateway,” Cruz said, adding that all three agencies at Clark are likely party to that conspiracy.
Cruz expressed fears that the 2,400-hectare civil aviation complex has started to be parcelled out for non-aviation related use.
“The last deal of (then-CIAC President- CEO) Chichos Luciano to expand the area of L&T Industries encroaching into the very core of the aviation area is a proof of this,” Cruz said.
He also noted the CIAC reportedly offering 50 hectares of the aviation complex to site a new Rizal Memorial Stadium.
“Instead of preserving this primary asset of land for the aviation complex, these people seem to be bent in slicing it for totally different uses,” Cruz noted.
Lawyers
Observing that all three heads of the agencies running Clark are lawyers, Cruz recalled the idiom “square pegs in round holes.”
“Marketing and management experts, and those in the know when it comes to the aviation industry are what we need for Clark to really develop,” Cruz said.
While he said he had nothing personal against lawyers, the three running Clark made an exception.
“I am no lawyer but I know the meaning of ‘salus populi est suprema lex’ (the welfare of the people is the supreme law). This should be foremost specially to lawyers holding high government positions, not so the Clark trio obviously,” Cruz said.
