Flying school rejects transfer to new site

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of a state flying school based in Pasay City have expressed serious concern over a move to make them transfer to a spanking new but flood prone and “shaky” campus by the time the next school year opens in June.

Lawyer Carmelita Yadao-Sison, officer-in-charge of the Philippine State College of Aeronautics (Philsca), said that they were set to block a move by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to transfer them to a new campus at a tract of land located along West Service Road of the South Luzon Expressway in Pasay City.

Sison said that their opposition to transfer was further made non-negotiable after a Geo-Hazard Assessment Report of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Mines and Geosciences Bureau has validated previous concerns raised by Philsca officers about the flooding problem and earthquake faultline concerns on their proposed relocation site. “It has a serious flooding problem and it (new campus building) was built on a faultline,” Sison told The STAR in an interview. ”Even if it rains just a bit, the whole area already gets flooded,” Sison added, citing the case of three public schools that are adjacent to the proposed new school site.

The Philsca’s current campus is at a 1.7-hectare property donated to them by the BCDA along Andrews Avenue in Villamor, Pasay across the controversial Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal III.

The BCDA has reportedly retaken custody over the land it donated to Philsca for a joint venture project with a property development firm.

It was learned that in the MGB report submitted to them by Antonio Apostol, Jr., MGB Land and Geological Survey Division officer-in-charge, March 11, the proposed relocation site of the Philsca was found to be at the west banks of the Maricaban Creek and is prone to “both low and high magnitude earthquakes.”

”Based on the ocular inspection of the proposed new Philsca site, the area is highly prone (to) flooding owing to its topography and geomorphologic setting,” the report said.

”Owing to its regional geologic setting, the site is also prone to ground shaking,” the report added. “Given these hazards, it is highly recommended that the plans pertaining to the design of the building and drainage lay-out be reviewed by taking into consideration the identified geologic hazards,” the report urged.