Davao Oriental gov’t pushes for Mati City airport expansion

DAVAO CITY – The provincial government of Davao Oriental has renewed its call for the expansion of the long abandoned airport in Mati City after it had initially secured P200 million from the national government to acquire the lot where the airport stands, the former governor said.

Former Davao Oriental governor and now First District Rep. Nelson Dayanghirang said the airport which was formerly named after former first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, the mother of the current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., will be a big boost to province’s tourism industry.

Dayanghirang said he had turned over half of the amount for the lot acquisition to the owners of the property before he stepped down as governor of the province on June 30.

The airport, which sits within the 174,040 sq. meter property owned by the Rabat and Rocamora clan, was built in the 1980s during the administration of the late Davao Oriental Governor Francisco Rabat as a “gift” to the province by former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., father and namesake of the country’s sitting president, Dayanghirang said.

Rabat, the most prominent member of the Rabat-Rocamora clan, was a close friend of the late president. Rabat was able to convince the national government to build the airport in a lot that was not yet donated nor was it sold to the government.

Dayanghirang said the expansion and development of the airport will play a big role in drawing more tourists to the province, especially to complement the province’s P150 million project to refurbish its tourism complex, about a five-minute ride away from the provincial capitol.

“This (government initiative to develop tourism facilities) is a necessary support to the initiatives of the private sector as partners of the province in various tourism activities,” he said.

According to provincial officials, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has also proposed another P240 million for the rehabilitation and expansion of the airport.

Tanya Rabat-Tan, regional director of the Department of Tourism, said the expected operation of the airport next year would lure more tourists to the province known for its lengthy coastline, a world-recognized heritage site in Mt. Hamiguitan and other eco-tourism attractions. “The province has a huge potential especially if you introduce the proper type of development in the province,” said Rabat-Tan, a niece of the late governor.

But both the provincial government and the DOTr have yet to start the development plan for the airport’s expansion.

Former Representative Joel Mayo Almario of the province’s second district earlier proposed in Congress that the Mati City airport be made an alternate to the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City. In 2019, the proposal started to snowball when provincial officials sought the help of the national government to push for its expansion so that it could accommodate bigger planes.

Right now, the airport’s short runway, the absence of better landing instruments and other necessary facilities like a terminal only limited the airport to accommodating smaller planes like turbo propelled ones.

The proposal was to acquire 270,000 square meters of land, including the land it currently occupies, to allow it to accommodate bigger planes.

Dayanghirang said expanding the airport posed no problem for the lot owners because the Rabat-Rocamora family has been supportive of the plan.

/MUF