CLARK FREEPORT ZONE — The Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) welcomed the appointment of former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino its new president.
“We warmly welcome Gen. Aquino and look forward to further strengthening CIAC under his able and dynamic leadership. His expertise and vast experience in the executive branch of governance is a positive addition to the BCDA Group,” said Joshua Bingcang, outgoing officer-in-charge of the airport.
Bingcang is concurrent Senior Vice President for Business Development of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).
CIAC is a subsidiary of the BCDA by virtue of EO 716, issued by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on April 3, 2008. The Department of Transportation (DOTr), on the other hand, exercises policy and operational supervision over CIAC.
Bingcang added that President Rodrigo Duterte’s appointment of Aquino as the new CIAC chief will further boost the agency’s efforts in establishing a globally competitive aviation complex at the Clark Freeport Zone.
Also last Friday, the CIAC board of directors unanimously expressed support to Aquino as the new president and chief executive officer of the government corporation.
Bingcang added that Aquino’s appointment to CIAC bodes well for the national government’s drive to expand airport infrastructure and capacity as the agency gears toward the development of the Clark Civil Aviation Complex, specifically in establishing a world-class commercial hub surrounding the airport.
The Clark aviation complex is home to the privately-run Clark International Airport (IATA Code CRK), as well as the mixed-use business district Clark Global City, and currently around 46 locators in cargo and aviation-related businesses.
Major projects in the pipeline also include the new Air Traffic Control Tower, the upgrading of the Airfield Ground Lighting System, a new radar system, and the construction of the second runway in conformity with the CRK Master Plan.
Aquino is not new to Central Luzon as his former appointment was regional director of the Philippine National Police before his appointment as PDEA chief by Duterte.
Image credits: Department of Foreign Affairs via AP