P222M for expansion of Bacolod-Silay Airport

BY MAE SINGUAY and IME SORNITO

BACOLOD City – Some P222 million has been allocated by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for the expansion of the Bacolod-Silay Airport.

Airport Manager Martin Terre told House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo this yesterday when the former president checked the airport which was built during her presidency.

Yesterday marked the 11th anniversary of the airport.

Arroyo called the airport her “baby.” She welcomed the plan to expand it to accommodate the growing number of passengers.

The airport is serving about 1.7 million passengers annually, she said.

Arroyo said she looked forward to the day that the airport would be able to have regular international flights.

“Market the airport to international airlines,” the House Speaker stressed.

The Bacolod Silay Airport is located on a 181-hectare land in Barangay Bactic, Silay City. It was constructed in 2003 and inaugurated in 2007.

From Bacolod City, Arroyo travelled to Iloilo to also visit the Iloilo International Airport which was built, too, during her presidency.

She proceeded to Iloilo via a roll on, roll off (roro)ship that docked at the seaport in Dumangas town.

The roro mode of transport was introduced during the Arroyo presidency (2001 – 2010) as a component of her Philippine National Highway System program – an integrated network of highway and vehicular ferry routes. Roads and ports were developed to connect Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Arroyo inaugurated the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo in 2007 – the first airport in both Western Visayas and the island of Panay to be built to international standards, and it is also considered to be the primary gateway into the region.

Arroyo told journalists she wanted to see the state of her projects before she finally retires from politics on June 30, 2019.

The Bacolod and Iloilo airports, she said, played a big role in improving the economies of Iloilo and Negros Occidental provinces.

She hoped the airports would be further expanded.

“They can’t stand still because of the big improvement of the economy. Now the airports have become too small,” said Arroyo./PN