Airport study for Bogo, Medellin towns pushed

The Cebu Provincial Board is asking the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to conduct a feasibility study  for an airport in Bogo City or Medellin town in northern Cebu.

The proposal of PB Member Joven Mondigo was approved in last Monday’s out-of-town PB session in Medellin.

Mondigo said  it was Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Philippines, who suggested building an airport in less-developed parts of Cebu and opposed the idea of relocating the Mactan Cebu International Airport to Cordova town as costly  and harmful to the environment because it involved reclaiming foreshore lands.

“Mr. Tan recommended instead that a second airport be constructed at either Bogo City or the town of Medellin since they have vast tracts of wide plains.

Building the airport in the less-developed northern part of Cebu would encourage economic activities outside of existing and crowded urban centers,” the resolution states.

In yesterday’s  888 News Forum, Cebu 1st District Rep. Eduardo Gullas suggested that the feasibility study should also include  southern Cebu.

“Any developments in the south surely gets my support and complete commitment,” he said.

But while these are still plans, Gullas said the existing Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) should still be used.

He said  creating a new airport doesn’t have to mean closing the existing one.

“All around it (existing airport) is in an export-oriented area…Why can we not continue using that? And then if a new airport would really be needed, just like in Hong Kong, the old airport was not changed. When the time came they needed a new airport, they had the island leveled, so the airport of Hong Kong is now the best in the world,” he said.

Gullas also said that the airport needed a second runway.

Former MCIA board member  Dawnie Roa, in the same forum, said there was  enough room for a second runway as MCIA owns the land in the periphery including MEPZ 1 and MEPZ 2.

Rep. Pablo John Garcia of Cebu’s 3rd district reiterated his stand that as long as the airport is being used by everyone, the MCIAA has no authority to sell the airport.

“If you look at the charter of the authority, while they have the power to sell assets of the authority, it is expressly placed as an exception—except those that are vital to national security,” he said.

“An airport, I believe, is vital to national security. You could just imagine if you sell that property,” he added.