ANGELES CITY – “It’s final. The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has chosen Sangley Point in Cavite City as the location of the new airport, virtually shelving a similar proposal to build on reclaimed land in Manila Bay.”
With this pronouncement, the alleged “conspiracy theory” being peddled by the multi-sectoral group Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) advocating for the full and immediate development of the Clark International Airport (CIA) was just reinforced.
This, according to PGKM Chair Ruperto Cruz. “The Sangley Point proposal is flawed from the very start considering its position and the reality of climate change and global warming,” Cruz said.
Sangley Point is reported to be prone to storm surges. A “clear and present danger” in the wake of what happened to the similarly situated Tacloban airport during the rampage of Supertyphoon Yolanda in November last year.
Cruz said the national government in alleged conspiracy with taipans won’t develop CIA because their business interests will be greatly affected and the campaign chest of the politicians will be diminished especially in the coming 2016 polls.
“A multi-billion site development for the Sangley airport instantly translates to resources that can fund even a presidential campaign,” Cruz opined. The PGKM charged Conspiracy theory on Clark reinforced that national government agencies “with the active cooperation of Clark officials themselves” are “sabotaging” the development of the CIA as the country’s premier international gateway.
Just recently, it was learned that Indian nationals arriving via the Manila International Airport, for unexplained reasons, are issued visas free of charge while those who opted to land at the CIA are not. It can also be recalled that flights to Dubai, UAE from the CIA cost at least $300 more as compared from flights emanating from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Dubai.
The Incheon-Manila flights are said to also cost cheaper than the Incheon-Clark flights. Cruz said these are clear proofs that there is discrimination against the CIA and a conspiracy of indifference to it. “Why the double standard?” he asked.
He said the existing double standard in the grant of visas to foreign tourists should be shelved in order to lure more visitors to our shores but instead, recent actions by the government tend to bolster the conspiracy theory not to develop the CIA.
The PGKM also questioned the perceived “conflict of interest” of DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya who represented the first district of Cavite for three terms in the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2012. Sangley Point is within the territorial jurisdiction of Cavite’s first district.
The PGKM also noted that Secretary Abaya is the brother of Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) general manager and CEO Peter Anthony Abaya. The PRA’s primary task is to reclaim land from the sea as in the case of the new Sangley airport which will be reclaimed from the sea.
According to the DOTC, “the JICA site-selection study for the new airport in Manila had also considered Manila Bay but Sangley Point emerged as the best choice among seven locations. “If you look at the JICA study, Manila Bay was also studied. Among seven locations, Sangley ranked on top after all factors were considered,” Abaya was quoted as saying.
Warnings
Reclamation in Manila Bay had sounded the alarms among scientists and environmentalists. Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo, Environmental Sciences Professor at the University of Illinois, said the reclamation of only 148-hectare of the Manila Goldcoast Reclamation Project along Manila Bay would “pose lethal risks to many people including danger of land subsidence, storm surges, storm waves and further ecological damage to coastal ecosystem.”
Eloiza Tolentino, coordinator of the Eco- Waste Coalition, had said that Manila Goldcoast’s 148-hectare reclamation project “would need 19 million cubic tons of sand that would destroy coastal ecosystem.”
Environmentalists also said “further reclamation would not only damage the remaining coastal habitat and eco-system but will also effectively block the natural pathways of the river system flowing into the bay, thus increasing the threats of massive flooding in Metro Manila.”
