Albay Rep. Salceda Praised President Duterte For Approving P4.8 Billion Bicol Airport After 11 Years
Albay Representative Joey Salceda praised President Rodrigo
Duterte for doing in just a few months what his predecessor sat on for the last
three years, to set into motion the completion of the P4.8 billion Bicol
International Airport in Daraga, Albay.
According to Salceda, President Duterte was able to do in
four months what the previous administration failed in three years – award the
P780 million phase 2 of the project consisting of 17 buildings and land-side
facilities; and bid out the P1.8 billion the passenger terminal building.
President Duterte is expected to grace the ground-breaking
ceremony for the Bicol International Airport on December 8.
“We thank President Duterte for this decisive action and we
are confident that an international airport will sustain the gains of Albay
tourism,” said Salceda.
“Duterte is a good man who genuinely cares for his people, his
heart is in the right place so his guts and gut feel honed by years as local
chief executive is fit for the challenges for nation building,” added Salceda.
Furthermore, Albay tourism exploded from only 8,700 foreign
tourists in 2007 to 339,000 in 2015 making it one of the top tourist destinations
in the country.
However, Salceda believes that Albay has barely scratched
the surface of its tourism potential.
Together with the approval of the the P171-billion South
line of the North-South Railway Project, foreign tourist arrivals are expected
to triple to 1.2 million by 2025.
“This will ensure that Albay will be an economic
powerhouse,” said Salceda.
Moreover, the Bicol Airport is a pet project of Salceda who
pitched the project to former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during a visit
to Albay in April 2005.
Arroyo, who inagurated a bridge in Salceda’s hometown,
Polangui, Albay, immediately instructed then Transportation Secretary Leandro
Mendoza to include it in the Medium Term Philippine Infrastructure Program.
With Malacanang’s backing, Salceda, as former Chair of the
House committee on appropriations, took charge in ensuring full ding for the
project’s implementation with allocation for feasibility study and detailed
engineering in the 2006 budget.
In his first of three terms as Governor, Salceda took charge
in securing suitable right of way (ROW) properties at a dirt cheap price of P28
per square meter, but the Bicol Airport hit a snag during the Aquino
administration as the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC)
dragged its foot in setting into motion this global gateway to Southern Luzon,
particularly the Bicol Region, and parts of the Visayas.
Due to the DOTC’s inaction, Salceda was prompted to take
“political action” and run as an independent for Congress in this year’s
elections.
In addition, Salceda took up the Bicol Airport project in
his return to Congress as he defended the 2017 budget allocations for economic
departments, specifically projects of Transportation Secretary Art Tugade, as a
Vice Chair of the Committee on Appropriations.
Albay Rep. Salceda Praised President Duterte For Approving P4.8 Billion Bicol Airport After 11 Years
Reviewed by Yen
on
December 09, 2016
Rating:
Post a Comment