Illegal settlers evicted from lands in Clark airport

CLARK FREEPORT — The government has started evicting 200 illegal settlers from a 674-hectare lot inside the Clark Civil Aviation Complex here to give way to a road linking the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) to the passenger terminal of Clark International Airport.

The first day of clearing operations on Wednesday was peaceful as 20 farmers, who inspected their crops and livestock, did not protest when told to leave the area near the former ammunition dump, according to a report from the committee on informal settlers of the state-owned Clark International Airport Corp. (Ciac).

The committee said it had exhausted all legal remedies, among them financial aid worth P24.344 million given out since 2009, to convince the illegal settlers to vacate the northern side of the airport.

Security lapses

It also said it had asked the Mabalacat City government to relocate families to be displaced from what used to be military base lands leased by the United States government.

Last year, the Commission on Audit (COA) notified Ciac about “security lapses and the absence of policies on illegal settlers which defeats the purpose of the newly installed security fence [and lighting system worth] P92.841 million.”

The lapses resulted in the “continuous intrusion of illegal settlers which now occupy a total of 674 hectares of lands or 28.75 percent of the area managed by Ciac,” the COA said in the 2017 audit report of Ciac finances and operations. The aviation complex spans 2,367 ha.

The settlers managed to bring in farm machinery and animals despite the prohibition, as well as the presence of guards, the COA said.

Bird strikes

It said the unrestricted use of the land for large-scale agricultural activities had increased bird strike incidents from three cases in 2010 to 50 cases in 2016.

Birds swarm the plantations, feeding on rice and corn, and had “threatened the safety of aircraft, pilots and passengers,” it said.