INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Pinuno Party-list Rep. Howard Guintu on Thursday stressed the need to rehabilitate two key transport hubs in Roxas City, Capiz, specifically the Port of Culasi and the Roxas Airport.
During a hearing on the 2025 budget of the Department of Transportation (DOTR), Guintu pointed out the poor condition of the Port of Culasi, especially when compared to the Port in Batangas.
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According to Guintu, the Port of Roxas is a key driver of economic and tourism growth in the province of Capiz, hence the need to renovate and bring it up to par with other transport hubs.
“With this, we can really improve our tourism. And, not just tourism but yung ating economic activity, trade, pag-aangkat at pagtatravel ng ating produkto. It’s greatly affected by the improvement of our facilities,” he said.
(With this, we can really improve our tourism. And, not just tourism but our economic activity, trade, importing and traveling of our products. It’s greatly affected by the improvement of our facilities.)
The Philippine Ports Authority, for its part, said funds have already been allocated for rehabilitating the Culasi port and expanding its passenger terminal building, with the bidding process set to commence by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Guintu also called for the rehabilitation of the Roxas Airport, pointing out deficiencies and the need for a passenger tube so that travelers would no longer have to walk on the tarmac to the aircraft.
“Kapansin-pansin na ang ating paliparan ay nangangailangan ng rehabilitasyon at improvement ng mga pasilidad na ginagamit ng mga pasahero. Makikita natin na malayo ang kapasidad at quality ng ating paliparan kapag ikumpara sa Iloilo International Airport,” he said.
(It is noticeable that our airport needs rehabilitation and improvement of the facilities used by passengers. We can see that the capacity and quality of our airport is far compared to Iloilo International Airport.)
“Maliit ang kapasidad ng paliparan, luma na ang mga pasilidad, at konti lang ang banyo na magagamit ng mga pasahero. Bukod pa rito, mahirap kapag umuulan, lalo na para sa ating mga PWDs (persons with disabilities), dahil kailangan pang maglakad sa tarmac paakyat o’kaya palabas ng eroplano,” he said.
(The airport’s capacity is small, the facilities are old, and there are few restrooms for passengers. In addition, it is difficult when it rains, especially for us, PWDs, because we still have to walk on the tarmac up or out of the plane.)
But the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Roxas Airport is already set to receive funding for its rehabilitation and improvement next year.
“We are giving priority [to] the control tower. The control tower will have to be abandoned, so [we] already have a mobile tower in position that will take over before we start renovating or demolishing the existing [one],” said CAAP Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo during the hearing.
“‘Yun ang priority kasi (that’s the priority because) it’s for operations. [For] the rest of the facilities[,] we are aware of the deficiencies, including the toilets,” he added.