MikeLigalig.com

All on paper
Published: November 26, 2006 by The Bohol Standard

So much have been said about the proposed Panglao airport. If the press releases are to be believed, it will in fact be an airport of international standards.

And yet, for all its claims, the airport still has not materialized. Many Boholanos who have been away from home for a long time and who depend on the newspapers on the internet for sources of information from Bohol had assumed all along that the airport is already being constructed if not nearly completed. It is therefore very surprising for them to find out that there is not even a ghost of the project when they visit Panglao.

Far from the newspaper reports coming out from press releases of government offices, there is no hint that an airport is actually going to be constructed in Panglao. This is not to say that the airport will never materialize.

That would mean the airport project will not push through and would make all the people making the press releases guilty of something that is not flattering. Still, the problem is that the steady flow of press releases gives the idea that the project is going on smoothly when it has ran into one obstacle after another.

All these years, from one administration to another, the airport remains a dream. The best thing to do for the concerned government officials and offices is to proceed with the project without fanfare.

That will allow them to move on without much opposition because those who are against the project will not be aware of the progress. If the airport will push through in the next 10 years, there should be a stop to the press releases especially the ones that are still in the planning stage. As pointed out earlier, this will only alert the opponents of the project ahead of time.

One of the problems being experienced by passengers flying to Bohol is the high cost of ticket prices. This will only be solved if the Panglao airport, or any other airport near Tagbilaran, will be constructed. Tourists who have to divert to Cebu will no longer need to do that if bigger planes and more flights are available for them.

If the Panglao airport becomes operational, this problem will be solved and more tourists will be flying directly to Bohol. The tourism boom that the tourism sector is expecting will finally become a reality in the real sense. There is no question about the need for another airport in Bohol. Panglao is the most ideal because it is very near Tagbilaran.

But until this time, the fact remains that the Panglao airport is still all on paper.

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