Just what is the real score of the Panglao airport following Tuesday’s pronouncements of Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III? To most Boholanos, it actually depends upon which side of the fence one is sitting and if you are an incurable optimist and inclined to believe the line punched by the drumbeaters of Gov. Edgar Chatto, then, this storyline is off to a good start. Confusion surfaced as to the status of the giant project after two conflicting versions wafted the air lanes courtesy of two competing news organizations. A news story emanating from Station DYTR indicated that President Aquino was keen on putting in the back burner the Panglao airport due to technical and environmental concerns. The news added that it would be to the best interest of Bohol to have the Tagbilaran airport improved and save a lot of money. ‘Let the big project undergo a more thorough study let alone on its environmental impact before it is implemented, Noynoy was quoted as saying. The other side of the “planet”, this time the venerable Station DYRD pushed its own side of the airport story to the effect that it’s a go according to Pres. Noynoy.

Now, the question is which is which.

A Philippine Daily Inquirer story said it all. The same PDI story which was written by a reporter who covered the presidential visit opened her storyline with this lead: This city’s gain, Panglao’s loss. Filed by Carmel Loise Matus of Inquirer Visayas, the story added that this started to take shape after President Aquino told officials of Bohol he wasn’t keen on proceeding with the construction of a new airport in Panglao town, a known tourist destination, since it could be more economical to just expand this city’s existing airport. What wasn’t discussed during Mr. Aquino’s visit here, however, was whether the decision to put the Panglao airport project in the back burner had anything to do with its being associated with ex-President Macapagal Arroyo.

The former president had presided over a capsule-laying ceremony for the Panglao airport, which was designed to have a 2.5-km runway. When she laid the time capsule for the project, Arroyo had described it as a magnet for development in Bohol. Mr. Aquino, however, appeared to disagree with his predecessor. “We want to make sure that the expansion of the Tagbilaran airport is not the better option, “he said on Tuesday at a forum here with officials and civil society leaders of Bohol. Mr. Aquino said his administration was studying also the possibility of just extending this city’s airport runaway instead of building a new airport in Panglao. “The minimum requirement is that it has to be in service as soon as possible,” said the President. He said his officials are looking at the Public Private Partnership (PPP) program as a source of funds for the airport expansion. Mr. Aquino said another possible source of funding for the airport expansion are foreign loans although the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) programs.

NOW THE TRUTH

While the story of the city airport was going the rounds, late afternoon of Tuesday saw another twist of the original version. In a press release emanating from the Capitol media apparatus, it was gathered that for all the confusion attending the airport issue, let it be clear that the Panglao project is actually in full throttle. In the same press statement, it said money was no problem because the President has found an enormous source in the budget for roro ports project where of the 72 under construction, only six remain in contention. In short, all the rest of the programmed roro ports will be scrapped saving in the process at least P15 billion. With this amount, the P8.5 billion costing of the Panglao airport is a “measly sum”. “It is recommended that we build the Panglao airport at a new cost of P8.4 billion. The amount that can go to ro-ro ports is double the need of the Panglao airport which, once built, multiplies your tourists, upgrade your economy and improve your lives here in Bohol,” the president declared before a jampacked crowd inside the cultural center in Trinidad. Trinidad was part of Aquino’s itinerary where he inaugurated the new P28 million Trinidad municipal hall in his first Bohol presidential visit on Tuesday. BHIs Bohol visit also included the induction in Tagbilaran City of Gov. Chatto as new Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC-7) chairman. Before flying to the Second District town aboard the presidential chopper, the national leader had a briefing on the airport project at Bohol Tropics here.

The new higher cost of P8.4 billion came out in that briefing based on the initial preliminary report of the study done by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) technical people. Considering the gestation period for the Panglao airport from start to completion and operation, Aquino ordered Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Sec. Mar Roxas to study the possibility of expanding the Tagbilaran airport. But the president would not like to be misunderstood as dropping the bigger airport plan, which is not correct yet insinuated by some quarters, telling the governor that the Boholanos should “not get him wrong.” The president did never say here he is abandoning the Panglao airport project. The review of its new costing will ensure that everything is clean and transparent pursuant to Aquino’s straight path principle. The governor and the cabinet men who came along with Aquino here supported the president in precisely exercising diligence in reviewing the project costing and timeframe so that the Panglao airport can be hastened at a justifiable cost.

The presidential party included DOTC’s Roxas, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Jesse Robredo, Department of Tourism (DOT) Sec. Alberto Lim and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Sec. Rogelio Singson. The president was more keenly aware of the city airport congestion, and that even if its runway may still be limitedly extended, the Maribojoc mountains which pose aviation hazards cannot be removed. The DOTC people who will look into the city airport condition are the same men who have otherwise favored the Panglao facility because expanding the Tagbilaran airport is technically not viable. Chatto found the president’s order consistent with the existing improvement plan for the city airport facilities while awaiting the final JICA report on the Panglao airport in October. The ultimate report from Japan will determine the bidding of the Panglao facility, which Aquino stressed could boost Bohol tourism and economy. In tie-up with the DOTC, JICA has repackaged the Panglao airport into the best public-private partnership (PPP) mode of implementation.

HASTEN PPP

Upon returning in Manila from Bohol, Aquino called a cabinet cluster meeting and ordered the fasttracking of all PPP initiatives that include the Panglao airport. As the president would want all PPP projects taking off in soonest time, Budget Sec. Butch Abad on Thursday called Chatto for important meetings in Manila starting tomorrow. Chatto will bring important papers as a “follow through” of the vital concerns---airport, road nationalization, bulk water supply, waste disposal system, more patrol cars and firetrucks, national counterpart for bayanihan school buildings, etcetera---presented to the president here.

CITY AIRPORT ‘MOST DANGEROUS’

Past expert studies, including those done by DOTC, all agree on the technical improbability of expanding and extending the current city airport runway considering its site surrounded by residential, commercial, educational and other establishments. It was in fact the JICA experts who described the Tagbilaran airport as a “dangerous airport in the world.” Constraints of the city airport that were identified in the 1995 feasibility study conducted by another foreign experts, Swedish aviation specialists, were confirmed in the 2000 and 2007 studies commissioned by the DOTC. However, by having its condition looked into, the president apparently just wants to be sure that the expansion of the Tagbilaran airport is “not the better option” and that the Panglao airport indeed is. Also joining Aquino, cabinet secretaries and Chatto in the presidential table at the Bohol Tropics meeting were ex-governor and now First District Rep. Rene Relampagos and Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, who flew in to turn over the RPOC chairmanship to Chatto. Also an ex-governor, Second District Rep. Erico Aumentado turned up during Aquino’s stay at Bohol Tropics, where other key Bohol leaders like Vice Gov. Concepcion Lim, provincial board members, mayors and development stakeholders likewise gathered.

The Panglao airport has not been realized by already past four governors---Constancio Torralba, in whose term the ambitious project was conceived, David Tirol, Relampagos and Aumentado. After the airport project briefing, the president swore in Chatto as the new RPOC-7 chair vice Cebu’s Garcia. RPOC member Gov. Orlando Fua of Siquijor was also there. Scientists and academicians in the University of the Philippine and other prominent Boholano experts already formally manifested their support to the Panglao project after long and deep study and research. Before their unified position, they significantly considered the environmental issues and related concerns. The president will have the Tagbilaran airport expansion study rushed before the final JICA report in October since the latter will determine the bidding of the Panglao project. Aquino’s bottomline is to hasten the provision of fittest infrastructure that accelerates Bohol’s economy, which consequently impacts on regional setting and national progress.

RO-RO FUND FOR AIRPORT

In Trinidad, the president cited the over P15 billion from excess ro-ro port projects as another possible source of fund for the Panglao airport. This is apart from this year’s P1 billion and next year’s P1.2 billion national allocations, both as a seed capital which can readily be “frontloaded” to start the project. This is also while private investments and Official Development Assistance (ODA) are awaited as a consequence of the PPP scheme. Of the 72 ro-rO port works contracted in the past administration, Aquino said only six appear necessary based on the study and review of the DOTC under Roxas. Each of the 72 port projects could cost P218 million when it could be built at only P91 million, the president said. An estimated over P15 billion would have been wasted, according to him. “What is P15B then?” the president quickly, suggestively asked.

Then Aquino said, “Minumungkahi po na itayo natin yung Panglao airport sa pinakabagong gastusin na ang tantiya ay P8.4B po ang kailangan. Doble ang itatapon sa ro-ro port dun sa kailangan ng Panglao airport na pag itinayo na, dadagsa ang turista ninyo, gaganda ang ekonomiya ninyo, gaganda ang buhay ninyo dito sa Bohol. Hindi ho ba?”

The president was considering to cancel 66 of the 72 Ro-Ro contracts in the past not just because only six appear necessary based on Roxas’ review. What is more hurting is that the ro-ro ports are to be built in areas which are typhoon paths, according to the president.. Aquino said once completed, the port works lose warranty since the contracts do not mention of warranty within a number of years if they are built in the danger zones. “You would not place them there so there is no warranty. Once completed, the warranty is automatically void. If destroyed, you have to build once again,” the president said.

‘ASK, AND YOU SHALL BE GIVEN’

The president repeatedly mentioned the new Bohol airport on Panglao island and its potential additional fund source in his severally-applauded 20-minute Trinidad speech. Predicating his airport pronouncement, Aquino declared “I don’t have any second thought in granting the wishes of Gov. Ed and Mayor Bob (Cajes of Trinidad) because they are for the good and welfare of the people.” The three being former Congress colleagues, Aquino said “I have fully known them both to be decent men.” Aquino would love the Boholanos to regard his visit alone as already a safe indicator of a Bohol progress to come in Chatto’s time as governor. (With reports from Ven rebo Arigo)