Entrepreneurial Farmer

Ambrosio R. Villorente

High Risk Airport

At about one o’clock on Saturday, January 9, I was one of the passengers of Cebu Pacific plane bound for Manila. The plane was at the other end, West South West of the runway, Kalibo Airport. The plane was ready to take off. But no, it stopped for about seven to ten minutes.

When it finally took off, the pilot announced over the microphone his apology for the delay for another plane just landed. As I observed, the aircraft flew over over the plane we were riding and landed just in front of it. What a highly dangerous practice being done in the Kalibo Airport!

This process of landing, with another plane on the same runway about to take off is only done in the Kalibo Airport.

Mr. Victor Reyes, branch manager of the Philippine Airlines in Aklan strongly laments this practice in Kalibo Airport. According to him, this way of aircraft landing while there is another aircraft on the same runway is only allowed in Kalibo Airport, never in any airport in the Philippines, never in any airport in the world.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) officials in Aklan are seemingly gambling with the lives of aircraft passengers passing by the Kalibo Airport.

Why does CAAP allow more aircrafts to use Kalibo Airport more than its capacity?

The runway is often heavy traffic, departure area is congested, arrival area is congested and parking area is congested. The environment in Kalibo Airport has been made more deplorable.

It is a negative practice to accept visitors and serve them not only very low quality service but with highly dangerous facilities.

New Terminal

A new passenger terminal is under construction in Kalibo Airport. When a very important person arrived in Kalibo, announcement was made of the project, the cost of the projects and whose project. Is that the money of the people?

That terminal was scheduled for opening in October 2009, then December 2009. This is now January 30, 2010. Thank God, the said terminal is still not operational.

P7.2 Billion Caticlan Airport

In Caticlan, Malay, Aklan, Ms. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo presided in the ground-breaking ceremony of the Caticlan Airport two weeks ago. The airport construction will take about seven years to finish.

It is extremely difficult to imagine why spend P7.2 billion for one airport construction when there is already one in Kalibo. If that is designed for tourists going to Boracay Island resort, then this government gives second priority to Filipinos, foreigners first.

Visitors are now visiting Boracay Island Resort via Kalibo Airport and the Caticlan Airport. Is Kalibo Airport far from Boracay that impedes people from visiting the island? Not really.

Haneda Airport is near Tokyo. Still Japan constructed Narita Airport which is very far from Tokyo and the distance has not adversely affected the inflow of tourists. Instead, the volume of tourists visiting Japan annually is increasing.

Don Muang Airport is very far from Bangkok and still some 8 million of foreign tourists visit Thailand yearly. The airport in Rome is very far too, but can we surpass the volume of visitors visiting Rome annually after constructing that P7.2 billion Caticlan Airport? No way.

Let us take a visit in Antipolo, San Mateo, and Marikina, Rizal. Hills there were bulldozed for the construction of housing projects. The soil was loosened, removed forest cover. These promoted rapid soil erosion to the rivers in Marikina, Pasig, and Laguna lake. These rivers and lake became silted, shallow. The flow of water is impeded. Typhoon Ondoy came and oh! A big disaster in Metro Manila.

Is that what Filipinos, particularly the Aklanons wish to happen? Please, God forbids.

It is a great demons-tration of love and loyalty to country to forget the P7.2 Caticlan Airport construction, improve further the capability of Kalibo Airport, and use the P7.2 billion for the modernization of agriculture and fisheries such as in the construction of more irrigation systems.

Level The Hills

To pursue the modernization of Caticlan Airport is to level the hills both in Nabas, and Malay. This will loosen the soil, enhance rapid erosion and clog the rivers, creeks, and pollute the sea coast.

Moreover, the national government officials must stop now the abuses being rampantly done in Boracay by allowing the local governments of Malay and Aklan implement strictly the Building Code, laws on environment, municipal and provincial ordinances approved to make Boracay Island a real world class tourists destination. /MP