WEDNESDAY |MAY 21, 2008 | PHILIPPINES
PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday led the capsule-laying of the P4 billion Bohol-Panglao International Airport (BPIA), which is envisioned to be the center of business and commerce in the Central Visayas.
Arroyo flew by helicopter from Cebu and landed at the spot where the future runway would be located.
In her brief speech, Arroyo said the airport would be a magnet that would attract development projects.
"We would see to it that Bohol would be the center of tourism in Central Visayas and strive to make the Chocolate Hills one of the Seven Wonders of the World," she said in Cebuano, to the delight of the crowd.
Alfonso Cusi, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), said the airport would be finished by 2010.
MIAA provided P3 billion of the capital, while the Transportation and Communications Department shouldered P1 billion.
"This is a major infrastructure development that we will achieve without the need for foreign loan," Cusi said.
He said the P3 billion came from the Philippine Airlines as payment for its P3 billion back accounts on aeronautical fees.
Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza said that the Panglao airport would be the center of export processing zones like the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
Panglao Island is 10,000 hectares in area, bigger than Mactan's 7,000 hectares.
Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado said that at present, Bohol counts on tourists from Korean, Japan, China and Taiwan.
Cusi said MIAA, being a major source of the capital, has the options to securitize its investments by selling to potential investors the airport's surrounding real estate and various projects on the line, which was done with the upgraded airports in Davao and Iloilo.
Mendoza said the government's next project is an "aeronautical highway" that would connect major tourist spots and potential business hubs.
The "aeronautical highway" is targeted for completion in 2009, Mendoza said.
Mendoza's plan is the answer to the call of foreign businessmen to provide airports which could be directly accessed by foreign air carriers.
Travel agencies were reported to have avoided the Philippines and concentrated on Thailand and Bali in Indonesia, and other countries in the Asean region where air carriers could directly deliver their tourists, avoiding the hassle of airport transfers.
Aside from Panglao and the airports in Palawan as part of the aeronautical highway, Mendoza said other airports scheduled to be upgraded are those in San Vicente, Palawan; Laguindingan, Cagayan de Oro; San Fernando, La Union; Alaminos, Pangasinan; Siargao island, Butuan, Zamboanga and Jolo. - Jay Chua
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