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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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MANILA – Three airports in Western Visayas were getting some P1.2 billion in infrastructure development funding under the proposed P3.767-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2018.
A total of P10.1 billion was allocated for the modernization of airport facilities and operations under the Aviation Infrastructure Program.
Kalibo International Airport in Aklan province will get P920 million.
Roxas City Airport in Capiz province and Evelio B. Javier Airport in San Jose, Antique were set to get P169 million and P110.00 million, respectively.
Curiously absent were Iloilo Airport and Bacolod-Silay Airport. But these two were included in the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program, with “modernization and expansion” budgets of P30.4 billion and P20.26 billion, respectively.
In the Aviation Infrastructure Program under the proposed 2018 GAA, Clark International Airport in Pampanga province got the biggest slice of the capital outlay, said Rep. Luis Campos Jr. (Makati City), deputy House minority leader.
“Clark is getting P2.74 billion to enable it to cope with more flights, especially at night,” said Campos, an ex-officio member of the House appropriations committee.
The Department of Transportation had been building up the gateway at the former United States Air Force base to lure more international and domestic flights away from the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport, he said.
“The target is to have Clark’s two 3,200-meter runways operating at night and eventually extend both runways, possibly to 5,000 meters, to accommodate bigger aircrafts,” said Campos.
Between January and July this year, Clark International Airport accommodated 20 international flights and 12 domestic flights daily on average, according to the state-run Clark International Airport Corp.
Other airports set to receive infrastructure development funds were Bicol International Airport (P899.68 million); Tacloban Airport (P716.12 million); Bukidnon Airport (P425 million); Panglao Island International Airport in Bohol (P386 million); Laoag International Airport (P368.5 million);
Cauayan Airport (P306.40 million); Dumaguete Airport (P300 million); Calbayog Airport (P245 million); Zamboanga Airport (P221 million); Partido Domestic Airport in San Jose, Camarines Sur (P200 million);
Surigao Airport (P200 million); Ozamiz Airport (P192.2 million); Butuan Airport (P184 million); Dipolog Airport (P182 million); Cotabato Airport (P161 million);
Basco Airport (P145 million); Ormoc Airport (P128 million); Maasin Airport (P122 million); Sanga-Sanga Airport (P100 million); Pagadian Airport (P84.2 million); Tuguegarao Airport (P61.8 million); San Vicente Airport (P50 million); and Virac Airport (P50 million).
Moreover, 13 smaller airports were getting a combined P262.61 million, or an average of P20.20 million each, for infrastructure upgrade, said Campos./PN
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