MOTHBALLED. Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (right) and his brother, Vice Mayor Lito Piñol (center) of M’lang, North Cotabato, show the runway of the mothballed Central Mindanao Airport, locally known as M’lang airport, to reporters following the visit of President Rodrigo Duterte in the province on Dec. 30, 2019. The President, after distributing relief and financial aid to thousands of recent quake victims from M’lang and other areas of the province, ordered for the immediate opening of the airport. (Photo courtesy of MinDA Sec. Piñol)
MLANG, North Cotabato – President Rodrigo R. Duterte has ordered the immediate completion of the mothballed Central Mindanao Airport here and asked Senator Christopher Lawrence “ Bong” Go to source out funds for it.
During his visit on Dec. 30, 2019 here, where he turned over relief and financial aid to thousands of quake victims, the President said the airport must be opened and utilized.
The President issued the remark after Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chair, Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, and North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco sought his intervention for the immediate operation of the airport here to boost economic development in mainland Mindanao.
With this, the President verbally asked his former assistant and now Senator Go to coordinate with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and source funds for the completion and operation of the airport.
In a statement on Thursday, Piñol said that he and Catamco had earlier briefed President Duterte on the actual status of the airport, also known as the M’lang airport.
The airport's construction started in 2004 when Piñol was governor. The 1.8-kilometer runway and terminal building were completed in 2010.
Present when the President issued the instruction were Go, Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, Department of Social Welfare and Development Sec. Rolando Joselito Bautista, National Housing Authority General Manager Marcelino Escalada Jr., M’lang Mayor Russel Abonado, Piñol, and Catamco.
The airport’s terminal building has been completed but the facility has not been operated because the provincial government of North Cotabato has not turned over the 62-hectare property to the DOTr.
The previous leadership, then under the provincial governor and now Vice Governor Emmylou Mendoza, cited “missing documents” as the reason behind their failure to turn over the project to the DOTr for completion and commissioning.
Catamco assured President Duterte that the provincial government will complete all the needed documents for the official turnover of the property to the DOTr.
Go said the operation of the airport is vital because it is located in a strategic area and will boost the economic growth of the Soccsksargen region where many agricultural products, including highly-perishable fruits, come from.
"I will talk to DOTr Secretary Art Tugade and I will help look for additional funding for the completion of the airport," Piñol quoted the senator as saying.
Piñol said the senator also vowed to seek his colleagues’ support to fast-track the completion and operation of the M’lang airport before 2022. (PNA)
