TRANSPORTATION Secretary Arthur Tugade has assured the 14-member Eastern Visayas Bloc in the House of Representatives the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport (DZR) in Tacloban City will not be singled out in the diversion of flights to Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga.
The diversion is aimed at decongesting the worsening air traffic problem at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila, Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie M. Kittilstvedt-Romualdez said Thursday.
She said Tugade made the statement during a meeting at the House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon, telling the legislators that only half of the regular daily flights from Manila to Tacloban City and vice versa will be transferred to ClA, formerly the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA).
The 14-member group, led by Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, is composed of 12 regular district congressmen of Leyte, the Samar provinces, Biliran and Southern Leyte, as well as two party-list groups— An Waray and A-Angat Tayo.
“The good secretary assured us that some of the flights from various airports in the country will also be transferred to Clark airport,” said Romualdez, wife of former House Independent Bloc Leader and ex-Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, president of the Philippine Constitution Association and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats.
“We are very much satisfied with his [Tugade] very credible explanation that this is about championing people’s interests,” Romualdez stressed.
She added their bloc supports the policy statement of President Rodrigo Duterte during his first State of the Nation Address to address air traffic problem in the country.
“Let us support President Duterte’s program to seriously curb congestion at the Manila airport. We are very glad to contribute,” said Romualdez, a stalwart of the Lakas-CMD.
Tugade has given assurances “the Duterte administration will strike a balance and achieve a successful decongestion program without jeopardizing the business and tourism industry of a particular province and region.”
For his part, Evardone welcomed Tugade’s statement while the other lawmakers said they were “satisfied with the explanation of Tugade that Tacloban City will not be singled out in the government’s plan to put an end to the air traffic nightmare in the country.”
“We are pleased with what Sec. Tugade had promised to us during the meeting because this is for the good of the country – to address the horrendous air traffic problem,” said Evardone.
Evardone, a member of the ruling Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), also said Tugade assured them that proper safety nets would be in place before the diversion of flights from Tacloban City to Manila and vice versa to CIA would begin.
“All safety nets will be put in place to avoid inconvenience and problems that may arise. An adequate bus shuttle will be extended to the passengers,” said Evardone.
He had earlier opposed the supposed singling out of Tacloban City in the planned diversion of flights as this would bring inconvenience to the people in Region VIII, kill tourism and business industry.
During the meeting, Tugade reiterated his statement before a Senate hearing last week that the three airlines — Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, and Air Asia — agreed to transfer all Tacloban-Manila flights to Clark.
Tugade said the Department of Transportation (DoTr) cannot prevent the airline companies from transfering their flights as their contribution to President Duterte’s call to decongest air traffic concern in Manila airport.
Tacloban City, part of Romualdez’s first congressional district in Leyte, is Eastern Visayas or Region VIII’s economic hub.
The Mactan Cebu International Airport and Davao City International Airport are among the busiest airports in the country.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Eastern Visayas aired its concerns on the matter, prompting it to draft a resolution to “reconsider and desist from implementing the full rerouting of all Tacloban-Manila flights to Clark international Airport.”
“The planned rerouting of all Tacloban-Manila flights by the three carriers serving this route to Pampanga is expected to cause grave negative impact on the fragile regional economy and effectively kill the tourism industry’s growth potential of Eastern Visayas,” the PCCI said.
The group cited higher air fares, increase land transportation cost, adjustment of air freight cost, longer travel time, and inconvenience to passengers as among reasons that would hurt the industry.