A portion of the Central Mindanao Airport located in M'lang, North Cotabato. (Photo from Sec. Emmanuel Piñol Facebook Page)
DAVAO CITY -- Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Secretary Emmanuel Piñol lauded the quick response of Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go to resume the work on the stalled Central Mindanao Airport in M'lang, North Cotabato.
"Young Senator Christopher Lawrence Go is really living up to his family name. Fast and always on the Go," Piñol said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
During President Rodrigo Duterte's visit last week to quake victims in M'lang, North Cotabato, he called the attention of Senator Go to work out the opening of the facility, whose 1.8-kilometer runway and terminal building were completed 10 years ago.
Piñol said that on Tuesday night, he received a text message from Go confirming that he spoke with Secretary of Transportation Arthur Tugade who assured that the work in the airport will resume in the third quarter of this year.
"It was an exhilarating news because at long last, after so many years of delay and lame excuses, the Mlang Airport which I started to envision as Mayor in 1996 and implemented when I became Governor of North Cotabato in 2004 will finally be completed. The airport project was in a limbo for nine years because of alleged 'missing' documents which was blamed on me," he said.
He added that he was even accused of owning the airport property for himself because he signed the deed of sale for the 64-hectare project when he was still the governor of the province.
"That is a preposterous and ridiculous allegation motivated by childish and vindictive politics. I signed it because I was the governor then and I represented the provincial government which bought the property from the heirs of Don Tomas Buenaflor," he said.
Piñol said that it is up to Gov. Nancy Catamco to work on the needed and "missing" documents so that the airport construction could resume.
"I am relieved that the real and true story is slowly unfolding. Of course, everything was triggered by a Presidential inquiry on the status of the project and fast action of the young Senator from Davao City," he added.
Earlier, Catamco ordered provincial officials to expedite the processing of documents to comply to Department of Transportation (DOTR) requirements needed to continue the remaining works in the project. (PNA)
