ANTIQUE – Gov. Rhodora Cadiao is waiting for updates from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on when the Antique airport upgrading will start.
The Evelio Javier Airport is located in Barangay Funda-Dalipe, San Jose de Buenavista.
Cadiao said the latest that she has heard about the project was when the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced a P500-million allocation for it.
The governor is hopeful that the upgrading will begin this year, noting that passengers for both inbound and outbound flights are already picking up.
“For the past two weeks na nagabiyahe ako to Metro Manila, puno ang mga pasahero,” Cadiao said in an interview with Panay News.
Currently, the Antique airport caters to three flights per week— on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, all by the Philippine Airlines — accommodating 60 passengers each.
The airport is named after the late governor Evelio Javier who served the province from 1971 to 1980. A critic of the Marcos dictatorship, he was assassinated on Feb. 11, 1986, two weeks before the People Power Revolution.
The airport was partially renovated with the help of Sen. Loren Legarda and Gov. Cadiao.
Before the renovation, the airport was not operational due to a lack of passengers traveling from Antique to Manila.
It is among the eight airports to be improved with budgets in the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The others were the Laoag International Airport (P785 million), Tacloban Airport (P1.420 billion), Bukidnon Airport (P80 million), Ninoy Aquino International Airport (P43 million), New Zamboanga International Airport (P200 million), Vigan Airport (P50 million), and M’lang Airport (P15 million)./PN
