Aquino: Airport repair done for papal visit

President Benigno Aquino III INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III has promised to complete the repair of the runway of the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport, the gateway to other Eastern Visayas provinces, by next month, two months before the scheduled visit of Pope Francis.

He told reporters during the 70th Leyte Gulf Landings celebration on Monday that he had asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to prioritize the runway repair to move its completion date to November instead of December.

Mr. Aquino said Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla and mayors in Leyte agreed to help meet the deadline.

The President said he was told that the airport repair was delayed by the lack of asphalt and aggregate supply because of the ongoing construction of houses and repair of roads in areas hit by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

“I hope I would be able to fulfill my promise but I expect that instead of December 2014, the repair of the airport runway will be done by November 2014 and other types of aircraft, like jets, will return,” he said.

Efren Nagrama, area manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) whose office is located at the airport, had said that at least 200 tons of asphalt would be needed for the runway repair work.

Repair on the airport’s runway started on Sept. 3. The CAAP said the work would be finished by December.

The airport’s 2.14-kilometer runway had potholes blamed on the impact of aircraft landing and taking off. The runway was submerged in seawater for hours as a result of a storm surge generated by Yolanda on Nov. 8, 2013.

Only small aircraft, like propeller-driven planes, are allowed to use the airport currently while the repair work is not yet finished.

Before the repair work, 11 Airbus planes from Cebu and Manila were able to land on the runway. Currently, up to only 10 propeller planes are allowed to use the airport.

An Airbus plane can accommodate up to 180 passengers while a turbo propeller can accommodate only 70 passengers.

Repair work at the airport is being rushed due to the forthcoming visit of Pope Francis to Leyte. He is expected to arrive in Tacloban on Jan. 17, 2015, to celebrate Mass at the proposed new tarmac of the airport and motor his way to the neighboring town of Palo.