Make no mistake about it: Tagbilaran City has no quarrel with the town of Panglao regarding the proposed airport project. This was the categorical statement issued by Tagbilaran Mayor Dan Lim to a news item from the Capitol that the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) has no option but to proceed with the new Bohol Airport in Panglao. The mayor said that if his critics think that he will argue in favor of the Tagbilaran airport, they are wrong. “I never lobbied for the Tagbilaran airport. It was Pres. Noynoy Aquino who said it would be more viable to improve the Tagbilaran airport,” the mayor added.

Lim recalled that he was not even present during the President’s first visit to Bohol since his election where Pres. Aquino made the remark. “I am not a member of the Liberal Party,” he pointed out, to buttress his contention that he had nothing to do with the President’s position favoring the improvement of Tagbilaran instead of constructing a new one in Panglao. Lim was in Manila to receive a citation for the city from the Bureau of Fire Protection during the said visit which became controversial because of the non-recognition given to Rep. Erico Aumentado of the second district. While Rep. Rene Relampagos of the first district was seated in the presidential table, Aumentado was not only left out in the seating arrangements but was not even acknowledged by Board Member Abeleon Damalerio who emceed the affair.

The mayor said that it matters little to him whether the airport in Panglao will be constructed or the Tagbilaran airport is improved. “I have always been categorical about my position that the airport is not my priority so it is not my problem,” he added. The mayor said that if the supporters of the Panglao airport project think that it will push through, they should just do it and not keep blabbering about it in the news. “If you recall, they have been saying that the airport project will push through for the last 22 years. They should stop doing that because it is becoming obvious that they are merely taking the people for a ride,” he added. The mayor said that if the stories are true, then they should just proceed with it instead of announcing supposed developments ahead of time.

“I do not see the hurry considering that the project has not progressed all these years,” he noted. Lim said he is just wondering why the proponents of the airport project are pushing for it in spite of the President’s pronouncement. “Are they trying to undermine the President’s position with this posturing?” he asked. The mayor said that if the Panglao airport proponents are so sure that they know better than the President, they should formally come out with a position paper instead of merely making piecemeal arguments. “If they are sure that their position is superior, they should tell Pres. Aquino that he is wrong instead of waging a propaganda campaign that may or may not reach the President,” he added. Lim said he is starting to be suspicious that the media campaign is merely an effort for face-saving of the Panglao airport project proponents instead of a sincere lobby for Panglao.