Estrada's ex-pilot named Clark airport prexy

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga - President Estrada has appointed his former private pilot as the new president of the state-run Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC).

"It is my desire that Mr. Franco V. Puzon be elected president and chief executive officer of (CIAC), vice Mr. Sergio Naguiat," the President said in a letter to Rogelio Singson, chairman of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA).

While the letter was dated last April 7, Puzon's appointment was not immediately disclosed until the CIAC board met yesterday to formalize his designation.

Puzon had been a member of the CIAC board since June 1998. He was once a pilot of Philippine Airlines (PAL) and reportedly later worked as private volunteer pilot for Mr. Estrada during his campaign for the presidency in 1998.

Puzon is CIAC's fourth president and the second non-Capampangan to hold the post since the CIAC was created in February 1995 to manage the 2,500-hectare civil aviation complex here.

The three past CIAC presidents were retired Brig. Gen. Romeo David, who had also worked for PAL, Harvard-trained Rufo Colayco, and Naguiat.

Puzon's appointment broke the tradition of having only one president and chief executive officer for both the CIAC and the Clark Development Corp. (CDC), which has remained under Naguiat.

Naguiat assumed the CDC and CIAC top posts only last Feb. 4. Controversies have dogged his administration since then, following his allegations of massive graft and corruption within the CDC and his decision to fire several top CDC executives. However, he later recalled his orders to suspend them.

In 1994, former President Ramos declared the Clark International Airport as the future site of the country's premier international airport, but this plan has yet to push through.

Earlier, Naguiat had said that the full development of the Clark international airport is hampered by a contract the government signed in 1997 with the developer of the proposed new passenger terminal at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City.

The contract bars the government from developing another international airport in the country until the new passenger terminal has served no less than 10,000 passengers within its first three years of operation.- With Ric Sapnu