GENERAL Manager Alfonso Cusi of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is rarin' to go to fund the Panglao Bohol International Airport Development Project (PBIADP). Cusi announced during the meeting Friday morning at the Bohol Beach Club in Barangay Bolod in Panglao town that “the money for the multi-billion-peso project is here.” He expressed apprehension however because MIAA might shell out several million pesos more for the project as its cost goes up with every delay that it incurs. The Cusi statement virtually douses cold water on speculations that Gov. Erico Aumentado's critics, skeptics and doubting Thomases expressed on the project. Contrary to the notion they are spreading that the Panglao International Airport is only a product of a fertile imagination, Aumentado even goes as far as saying that two contractors will simultaneously work on the runway and its appurtenances, and on the terminal building and its appurtenances. The simultaneous work, he said, will ensure that the project will be completed within the deadline that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo set.

“President Arroyo wants to inaugurate the Panglao Bohol International Airport on April 5, 2010 – her birthday,” the governor said. As a manifestation of Cusi's commitment that MIAA will fund the project, he said he brought the entire MIAA board of directors to observe the Aug. 17 Panglao Island Tourism Estate Inter-Agency Task Force regular meeting – and to hold their own board meeting also at the Bohol Beach Club. “This will ensure that the members of the Board are aware of the project, and that their decisions are made fast and with no hesitation,” Cusi said. It was the first time to Bohol for some of the members, including two lady lawyers of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). Secretary Leandro Mendoza said their trip to Bohol may be for multiple purposes but the most important is MIAA ‘s commitment to fund the Panglao airport. “Is MIAA serious in funding the project? The fact that the Board is holding their meeting here indicates their seriousness to do so,” he said. Constructing the Panglao Bohol International Airport fulfills part of the commitment of President Arroyo in her latest State of the Nation Address (SONA) to build 36 airports before 2010, he added. The Panglao Airport is one of the primary airports for development in Central Philippines. Money for its construction will be taken from the long-time arrears in terminal and other fees of the Philippine Airlines that is now starting to pay up, he confirmed announcements that Aumentado made earlier.