SMC should include Iloilo, other airports in alternative project

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."
Albert Einstein

By Alex P. Vidal

The $10-billion proposed alternative international airport project being dangled by San Miguel Corporation (SMC) to the government should not be limited to serving Metro Manila alone. There are many airports of international standards outside Metro Manila and are better equipped and ready for whatever expansion or development programs in the future.
Although Manila is the seat of national government, massive economic activities and developments have also been felt in various regions outside Luzon these past years; and modern airports in Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, among other major cities in the Visayas and Mindanao, are among the busiest. Imperial Manila should not devour the entire cake. 
When investors and tourists fly to other cities in Visayas and Mindanao, they will realize there is more than meets the eye when it comes to tourism and investment opportunities normally advertised in the internet and other media to be happening only in Metro Manila areas. Industrialization and economic growth should be a national phenomenon. 

REGIONS

If airports in other regions are developed and upgraded, more economic zones will germinate nationwide. Economic zones help small scale businesses and exporters in the countryside. The playing field is leveled. And this is the essence of globalization.  
Tiny cities in neighboring Asian countries have become economic tigers because both the government and private sector spread the sunshine nationwide in terms of public works and infrastructure development. Airports in these bustling cities have become sophisticated and upgraded to international standards, thus attracting tourists and investors from America, Australia, Africa and Europe.
If the capital city improves by leaps and bounds, the rest of the cities all over the country should also improve by leaps and bounds. Everybody happy. The wonders of this egalitarian-type approach in nationwide expansion and development have been experienced in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia. 

REPORT

In a recent report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer,  SMC was set to submit to President Aquino in April this year its own proposal for a $10-billion alternative international airport serving Metro Manila "even as the government separately pursues a similar project, likely at a former US naval base in Sangley Point, Cavite."
The report mentioned SMC president Ramon S. Ang confirming reports that the airport project would cover around 800 hectares and would be located at an unspecified area in Metro Manila.
"SMC, a diversified conglomerate and owner of a minority stake in flag carrier Philippine Airlines, has long sought to build its own air gateway but uncertainty over the government’s stance on the matter prompted it to shelve the plan last year," said the PDI report.

CHALLENGES

The proposal still faces other challenges, the report further said, given the current administration’s bias against unsolicited projects.
"Moreover, the Department of Transportation and Communications is looking at its own international airport project, to either operate alongside or as a replacement to the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the country’s busiest air gateway," it added.
"The three terminals at Naia handled about 32 million passengers last year, above its intended capacity of 30 million. Nevertheless, Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said Tuesday that they were open to considering SMC’s proposal, once it is submitted."