On our way to an aerotropolis

In the year 2011 or 2012, the face of Central Luzon and the northern outskirts of Metro Manila would have been changed, thanks to an ongoing project by the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) converting the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in the former Clark Field air base in Angeles City, Pampanga into a 21st century aerotropolis.

A what? The word aerotropolis is obviously coined from the words airport and metropolis, and in this case, CDC’s president and ceo Emmanuel Angeles views the development of the DMIA as the touchstone to a metropolis with an airport-driven economy.

"Speed of delivery is the key to progress," Angeles says, noting that a fully operational DMIA can be a hub to spur economic growth not only in the Philippines but in the entire region, Angeles City being only two to three hours by plane from major cities in Asia.

When Angeles talks about the aerotropolis, he can look at you straight in the eye and sound every bit like a man driven, perhaps our last Quixote. He ticks off at least five points of the CDC project in the next seven to eight years, foremost of which is the development of DMIA into a premier airport courtesy of the official development assistance (ODA) from a Japanese bank.

But won’t there be a possibility of contractual hassles like that encountered by the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3?

"But this is a project of the government," Angeles explains, as compared to the NAIA 3 that was built by a private consortium. Overall, the loan to be extended by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) amounts to some P35 billion, payable in 40 years.

The CDC has also begun steps to privatize the white elephant known as Expo Filipino, the centennial project of the Ramos administration. Expo, Angeles says, has been turned over to Clark by the Department of Trade and Industry, and its privatization is expected to generate a P30 billion kitty.

Also to be privatized is the controversial Mimosa Leisure Estate, which figured in a tug-of-war between the CDC and the majority owners led by former tourism secretary Antonio Gonzalez during the early years of the Estrada admin-istration.

The CDC likewise has on the drawing board the development of public parks and playgrounds in the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) because, Angeles says, "this is one of the needs of our community."

Corollary to this, he says they plan to plant 100,000 trees, and are working a deal to transfer the neglected animals in the Calauit reserve in Palawan to Clark’s forests.

And the eventual privatization of DMIA is seen to attract more investors, both local and foreign, and benefit a 60-mile radius, meaning all provinces in Central Luzon and parts of Metro Manila.

One could already see the blueprint for all this being lay down with the expansion of the North Expressway, which suffers from bottlenecks in stretches, notably in the San Simon area.

Then, as if the above were not already quite a mouthful, there is the North Rail Project connecting Global City in Fort Bonifacio to Balintawak, and henceforth to Clark, then all the way to Pangasinan, not to mention the Clark-Subic Tollway linking the two former American bases in the country.

"We’re lucky that the Americans left us; they thought we didn’t know how to manage Clark when they left it," Angeles says, when asked about how the bases fared since the pullout of the Americans in 1992.

But he says it was more a confluence of events, what with the wrath of Mt. Pinatubo falling on Clark and Subic a rain of ashes courtesy of Apo Namalyari, and the historic Senate vote that all but kicked out our former colonial masters.

"It just proved we can survive without the Americans," he says, noting the CSEZ spreads over 35,000 hectares, presently housing 326 corporations that employ roughly 26,000 Filipino employees.

Now Angeles suspects the Americans want Clark back, but he says, "no way will it become a (military) base again."

Rather, he believes Clark would be an ideal site for the 2005 Southeast Asian Games to be hosted by the Philippines, because the facilities at Rizal Memorial on Vito Cruz are old and rickety, time definitely not on their side.

With the zone fully developed, Angeles agrees that there would be fewer Filipinos opting to work abroad.

The 66-year-old Angeles is actually more identified with the Angeles University Foundation, the university founded by his family 40 years ago. It is at the auf office where STARweek gets to interview him.

"I spent 40 years building this university," Angeles says, "but what most people don’t know is that my background is corporate law. I started out as a corporate lawyer."

This is his comment to critics who wonder "what an educator is doing in Clark," and who say Angeles is better suited for an academic position. But his corporate law experience has come in handy in his management not only of the auf but also of CDC, so being at the helm of a huge corporation "is not something new to me."

The we-bulong brigade, in fact, had been eyeing him to head the Commission on Higher Education, and if the President had not instead picked Bro. Rolando Dizon of La Salle for CHED, it would have been goodbye to the aerotropolis and all that.

As head of CDC, Angeles’ term is co-terminous with that of the President. "They’re eyeing a fixed term for it," he says, but as of now, he will exit with Mrs. Arroyo.

And how did he feel when the President announced she was not running in 2004? "As soon as she announced it, that’s when all the criticism died down," says Angeles, who himself is not running for public office.

On the other hand, he might consider running as a delegate to the proposed constitutional convention, if that pushes through. But Angeles says the fault with Philippine society is that there is too much politics, and the press is too free: too much focus on the negative, and there’s never an absence of malice.

Soon enough we hie off for the photo shoot at the DMIA, but this is cut short because of dark clouds in the distance and the sudden summer afternoon downpour.

So we evacuate to the golf and country club, where we order fresh dinuguan with large cut pieces of innards and, what, no puto?! Instead there are buns, which is just not the same.

"Dinuguan ng Americano yan," Angeles admonishes the maitre d’.

Final stopover before the long drive home is his office at CDC, where there is a replica of the envisioned aerotropolis. It’s far bigger than NAIA 1, 2 and 3 combined, he says, and we believe him, just as we believe our Quixote when he attacked the windmills that he saw as giants trying to prevent him from dreaming his impossible dream.

Yes, it’s a long way from Harvardian to Harvard, and Manny Angeles understands this only too well; the toil and sweat that have landed him this far, may too in 2012 take us at last to our aerotropolis.