Arroyo vows funds for rehab of Vizcaya airport

CAMP MELCHOR DE LA CRUZ, Gamu, Isabela — President Arroyo gave assurance that funds for the rehabilitation of the long-neglected Bagabag domestic airport in Nueva Vizcaya are already with the Department of Tourism and are due for release this year.

Mrs. Arroyo, who stayed overnight here on the first of her two-day sortie in Ifugao and Isabela, told local officials that the airport’s rehabilitation is one of her priorities.

Meanwhile, the President is visiting Vigan City today to be the guest of honor of the Ilocos Sur National High School which is celebrating its 100th founding anniversary.

She will also visit the Abra towns of Dagioman, Baay Licuan, Bucloc and Tubo.

The President said the Bagabag airport complements her plan to further accelerate the agriculture and tourism industries in Cagayan Valley and in the North-Central Cordillera areas.

One of her aims in prioritizing its rehabilitation, she said, is to make the Banaue Rice Terraces more accessible to both foreign and local tourists. The airport, located in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya, is the gateway to the world-renowned Rice Terraces.

Last year, Transportation and Communications Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez, during a visit to Nueva Vizcaya, assured local officials that he would appropriate funds for the airport’s rehabilitation.

Among the sections of the airport that need to be rehabilitated are the runway, control tower and perimeter fence. Due to the poor conditions, airport operations were intermittently disrupted until they were totally stopped last year.

Mrs. Arroyo said the government plans to upgrade the airport to accommodate medium-sized aircraft, thus allowing the arrival of more tourists.

The airport, which used to cater to flights from Manila to Bagabag and vice versa, was constructed during the administration of Mrs. Arroyo’s father, the late former President Diosdado Macapagal, to serve as a jumping point to the Rice Terraces.

Last year, Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Rodolfo Agbayani said the provincial government had submitted a P90-million budget proposal for the airport’s rehabilitation which Alvarez, in turn, promised to include in the 2002 national budget.

"I hope that since the (Bagabag) airport was put up during her father’s term, the President will see to it that it is fully rehabilitated in honor of her father," Agbayani said. – With Teddy Molina