MIAA set to manage Clark airport

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is set to implement an executive order signed by President Arroyo directing it to manage the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark Field, Pampanga.

MIAA general manager Edgardo Manda said the MIAA is helping fast-track the integration of the DMIA and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Under Executive Order 193, the President tasked the MIAA to handle the planning and marketing of the two airports.

"The government will benefit from this integration," said Manda in a statement. "What we are doing is to harmonize airport plans and streamline operations to better convince our Asian neighbors of the viability of the DMIA."

Manda said the President’s directive is a welcome development for the progress of Clark Field.

"Misperceptions, competition and opposition will only further delay any action to make the DMIA a premier gateway," he said.

In 1994, then President Fidel Ramos issued EO 360 designating the Clark airport as a future premier international airport. — Sandy Araneta

Us To Deport 60 Pinoy Ex-Convicts

Sixty Filipinos, who have fully served their jail sentences in the United States for murder, sexual assault, illegal drugs and other criminal offenses, will be deported to the Philippines on Wednesday.

The deportees, who will come from California, will arrive at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark Field, Pampanga.

The US government earlier sent an advanced list of the deportees to allow Philippine government authorities to check whether they have pending criminal records here.

"When there are pending charges against them, the deportees will be made to answer these cases before government authorities allows them to go home," a source said.

The US government reportedly deports former convicts every three months. The deportees are permanently barred from entering the US. — Cecille Suerte Felipe

Ombudsman Asked: Probe Ppa Head

A taxpayer has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the head of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) for allegedly failing to divest his holdings in a port cargo company.

PPA general Alfredo Cusi, however, said the complaint filed by one Alexander Penano was "pure and simple harassment."

In his one-page affidavit, Penano accused Cusi of "conflict of interest" for allegedly continuing to hold on to his stake in Starlite Maritime Inc., which reportedly has a cargo handling contract with the PPA.

But Cusi, when sought for comment, said he had divested his Starlite shares when Malacañang appointed him PPA head in February 2001.

"(The accusation) is an old issue. It was only meant to harass me," he said, adding that the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission dismissed the matter for lack of evidence some months ago.

"Now they are raising the issue again in another venue. I doubt if it will prosper," he said.

Penano attached to his complaint Starlite’s incorporation papers. — Delon Porcalla and Nestor Etolle