Sen. Richard J. Gordon has proposed the inclusion in the emergency powers measure the fund needed to repair and upgrade the runway and terminal facilities at Subic International Airport, as well as restore full operations of vital equipment, like the radar and instrument landing system (ILS), so it can be used to decongest the four Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) terminals.
Per estimates derived from preliminary findings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee inquiry, the repairs and restoration at Subic airport will need anywhere from P600 million to P1 billion.
“We have to spend on it, otherwise it will go to seed like Sangley,” he told the BusinessMirror on Friday, referring to the former US naval base in Cavite that was neglected for a long time.
The senator explained that, while the Blue Ribbon was inquiring into apparent neglect at Subic—where he was the first chairman after the US dismantled its bases when the Philippine Senate voted down a treaty extension in September 1991—he thought it wiser to “fix the problem first” and then look “for who to pin the blame later.”
The immediate concern, Gordon added, is to restore what was once “one of th e best airport facilities” in the world, noting the superior runway, the radar and related equipment when the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority harnessed the former US military site for civilian purposes.
He recalled that among the big-ticket investors that first located operations at Subic Airport was global logistics giant FedEx.
Sadly, Gordon rued, there was “omission on their [Subic authorities] part, a dereliction of duty,” in “not fully utilizing this wonderful infrastructure that now belongs to us.”
The Senate Public Services Committee, chaired by Sen. Grace Poe, has conducted hearings on a proposal to arm the Executive with emergency powers in order to resolve the traffic crisis. The long-standing debates over what to do with the four Naia terminals in Metro Manila drew attention once more as experts pointed to the air-traffic problems at the Naia, as well as the traffic on the ground, among tens of thousands of people going to and from the four terminals daily.