Airport transfer needed?

According to yesterday’s Cebu Daily News banner story, Congressman Tommy Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district wants to transfer the Mactan Cebu International Airport from its present location in Lapu-Lapu City to  Cordova town.

Osmeña said that would be similar to what his father, the late Serging Osmeña did when he transferred the old airport in  Lahug, Cebu City to its present location in Mactan.

The  Sy family of the famous SM malls has also expressed  interest to buy the airport property in Mactan

As I stated earlier,  we welcome this  development about the prospect of selling the airport property but the question that should be answered by proponents of the sale is: What is wrong with its present location  that it needs to be sold to SM?

Is Lapu-Lapu City no longer an ideal site? If it isn’t broke, why fix it? We haven’t heard the local government  of  Lapu-Lapu entertaining such a proposal or even complaining about the airport site.

I was informed that the transfer of the airport to Cordova town would require  a reclamation project. I think reclaiming  foreshore land to accommodate the airport is destructive for the environment of the town and the province, land and sea.  It’s best that  a study be first made to determine if a transfer is necessary at all.

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Many were happy with the decision of the Supreme Court to distribute the Hacienda Luisita property to the famers, but sad to say, there is ongoing debate among the farmers if titles should be issued to individual farmer-beneficiaries or only one title should be given to all beneficiaries.

Another issue that should be resolved is how much compensation the Cojuangcos should get for the hacienda. Some groups believe the Cojuangcos shouldn’t  get a single centavo for the land that is now covered by the Comprehesive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (Carper) law.

I think, to be fair, the Cojuangcos deserves  just compensation for the agricultural land as  enunciated under the law and Constitution because the   land reform program  speaks not of confiscation of property under the police power of the state but of the exercise of the power of eminent domain. That  should be respected.

A friend of mine had a bitter experience with  land reform program because his property was covered by Carp (an earlier version of Carper) and was distributed to  farmer tenants. He was  just given a piece of paper as evidence of the transfer. Until now, he hasn’t received any  payment for the land taken away from him.

I was working in the Senate when senators discussed the Carper law and its implementation. Part of the burden of farmers was that parcels of land  were given without support services provided for in the law. They were practically left on their own in attending to the lands under CARP.

The farmers were hoping for services like a credit line, access to farm equipment and others. The absence of these services in addition to the fact that during the time of President Cory Aquino Hacienda Luisita was exempted through the introduction of the stock distribution option has been counted among the reasons why the Carp program of the government failed.

We don’t  know  how the Supreme Court will rule on the controversy of  how many titles should be issued and whether the  Cojuangcos should be paid for the hacienda.

Apparently, the idea that the problem in Hacienda Luisista will be resolved by the SC decision is no longer true because the high court instead raised many questions that need to be answered.

Many thought that justice has been served with the latest SC decision but apparently not just yet.