By Ashley Manabat / Correspondent
CLARK FREEPORT—“Stupid plans.” That was how then-Transportation Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II branded the plans to build airports at Sangley Point, Cavite, and in Bulacan and the proposed extension and widening of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Manila.
At the media forum, “Inn the News Cami” organized by the Capampangan in Media Inc. (Cami) in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and Holiday Inn Clark, Liberal Party Rep. Oscar S. Rodriguez of Pampanga narrated how Roxas, then-transportation secretary, described the proposals.
Rodriguez said he confronted Roxas in an occasion where he received the “Most Business Friendly” award for the City of San Fernando.
He said businessman Levi P. Laus was also present when he confronted Roxas and even heard what the latter said.
“I asked him, ‘Mr. Secretary are you planning to develop Sangley Point as an international airport or put up one in Bulacan or make an extension and widening of the Naia?’”
But Roxas, according to Rodriguez, blurted out, “That’s a stupid plan.”
Rodriguez quoted Roxas as saying: “Can you imagine, Sangley Point is just a small area and you will have to reclaim land from the sea?”
Rodriguez said Roxas also said: “Another stupid plan was the proposed airport in Bulacan because Clark is too near.”
He said, “Why would you develop an airport in” Bulacan and spend so much when there is an existing premier international airport in Clark?”
He said another stupid plan is the idea of extending and widening the Naia runway.
“Don’t they know that the subdivisions surrounding Naia are not ordinary subdivisions? Why spend trillions of pesos for the right-of- way and assuming that you can get them, you should be ready for another 20 years before a favorable decision from the Supreme Court can be handed down,” Rodriguez quoted Roxas as saying.
“Because surely, the residents in the area will bring the issue to the Supreme Court,” Roxas reportedly told Rodriguez.
“Are those not stupid plans?” Roxas asked.
Rodriguez said in another occasion he also confronted Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya, Roxas’s replacement, and asked him if he plans to put up an airport in Sangley.
But Rodriguez said Abaya told him no, and that the Clark International Airport (CIA) is still the “top priority.”
But much preparation is still needed for its full utilization, Abaya said. “But I don’t know if he [Abaya] is serious about it,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said in the event that the CIA will be fully utilized, the City of San Fernando could become a “gateway to the north” and ultimately “a global gateway.”
“But I don’t know what is the real reason the CIA has not been utilized to the fullest,” he lamented.
1 comment
My point, may katwiran ang dalawa (Abaya and Roxas)… Strategically, CIA ang next in line at dapat ipriority ng susunod na Presidente ng Pilipinas by 2020..
Kung madedevelop ang connection ng NAIA and CIA by efficient bullet or Commuter Train (80 km distance and 150 kph speed) and construct a new, sophisticated and modern Airport Terminal and additional runway sa Clark ..maraming matutuwang taga-Central and Northern Luzon, gayun din ang mga taga-NCR.