Why Cebu must have a 2nd runway

A week ago last Friday evening, the GMR/Megawide Consortium launched its new brand name and new logo at the Mactan Cebu International Airport’s (MCIA) Most Important Persons (MIP) building, which was constructed for the APEC Summit held in Cebu. That launching was actually a fashion show to reveal the new uniforms of MCIA done by Cebu couturier Cary Santiago. They looked more like hotel uniforms than airport uniforms.

I have no doubt that the GMR/Megawide group is focused on their plan to create a Resort Airport. Louie Ferrer came up with a speech that gave everyone an idea how the Mactan Airport facilities would be like under their management. He said that someday, people from Manila would even fly from their international destinations first to Mactan, then take a connecting flight to Cebu just to be in the new Mactan International Airport.

GMR’s Andrew Harrison told us his story of what the future holds for the Mactan Airport…where passengers can use their cellphones to find out what they can do in the new airport. But more importantly, they are coming up with new technology for electronic passports where it will only take you a few seconds to pass through immigration. That brought a lot of applause from the audience.

This is the difference between an airport run by the Philippine government and an airport that will be run by a private company. There is no question that in the Philippines, government-run public facilities are inherently incompetent, inefficient and has no sense of public service.

Also that evening, the Cebu media had a talk with MCIAA General Manager Nigel Paul Villarete where I asked him a straight question, “Where is the P14.4 billion that the GMR/Megawide paid for the Mactan Airport?” Paul said that it was deposited in Land Bank here in Cebu. This was the best news I got since I’ve been writing about this story in the last two week.

With this news, we rallied the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (CCCI) and the Cebu City Council to support the move to keep the P14.4 billion in Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) so it could be used to build our second runway. When I was still involved in MCIAA as a private sector representative, I’ve always batted for a second runway, but I always got two usual answers. First that we didn’t have the money to build one and second… we didn’t need a second runway.

Well those words came from DOTC officials who have bungled the way they run the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). No Cebu isn’t going to follow the route that the NAIA took and just like what happened in Hong Kong in the mid-90s, the abandoned Kai-Tak International Airport which had a single runway and build the Chep Lap Kok International Airport with a dual runway system and in the end, Hong Kong’s tourism more than doubled its capacity. A second runway assures us of Cebu’s economic and tourism growth in the next 50-years.

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Our column last Thursday entitled “Pres. Aquino and the Case of the Two Liars” got me a lot of responses over my cellphone from friends and lots of emails. Surprisingly, I didn’t get a single negative or hate mail on his issue. So allow me to reprint some letters that was emailed to me on this issue.

“Dear Mr. Avila, Thank you very much for your Shooting Straight column today. You shot it right thru the liar’s middle tooth. I wonder how will the champions of the honor code will react. But I am convinced there is still a third liar — the president himself. More power and God Bless. Boy Lojo Lipa City.” Actually it was a previous email by Boy Lojo who alerted me of the issue of Cadet Cudia who was punished for lying. So we put the two together and wrote that article last Thursday. But Boy Lojo insists that PNoy is the 3rd liar in this story. I do not doubt that!

This one came from a famous Bishop who wanted to remain anonymous. “Bobit I was not able to send the above article of yours to fellow Bishops, but when I tried clicking it off to some friends with same URL, and several attempts for that matter, it refused to get through; instead the word ERROR in big bold letters flashed on the screen. Perhaps your article is “anathema” to the security watchdogs upstairs. Hope, I’m wrong.”

Finally, this letter came from Socrates Punay of San Diego, California, “Dear Mr. Avila: In your recent column, you hit the proverbial nail on the head. Honesty is no longer the best policy under PNoy’s administration. How can you discipline the police force if their chief is caught lying through his teeth on the alleged scandal he is involved into? Iba talaga ang brand ng friendship ni Pnoy. Kahit mali basta kaibigan okey lang sa kanya. Keep on punching Bobit and help bring the truth to your readers. Marami kang readers dito sa San Diego na timid lang na magparamdam sa iyo. Again, thanks for your efforts and bravery in revealing the truths through your column.”

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