More funds pour in for Vizcaya airport rehab

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has allocated an additional P20 million for the ongoing rehabilitation of one of Northern Luzon’s oldest airports.

DOTC spokesperson Thompson Lantion said yesterday that the additional amount for the rehabilitation of the Bagabag airport here was already included in the government’s 2006 national budget.

The rehabilitation of the airport here is one of President Arroyo’s priority projects for this landlocked province, as envisioned in her development programs to transform Cagayan Valley, the country’s major rice-producing region, as Northern Luzon’s food capital.

The additional amount, the DOTC said, would be used for the extension of the airport’s runway and for upgrading of its facilities, especially its air navigational capabilities so that it can accommodate 30 to 50-seater aircraft.

Last year, on orders of the President, the DOTC through the Air Transportation Office had released P5 million for the improvement of the airport’s original runway and perimeter fence.

At least P50 million have already been spent for the rehabilitation of the long-neglected Bagabag airport since Mrs. Arroyo came into power in 2001. In one of her visits to the region, the President vowed to upgrade the airport so that it can accommodate bigger aircrafts.

Located in Bagabag town here, the airport, which has intermittent operations due to outdated facilities, could only accommodate light aircrafts, unlike the Cauayan Airport in Isabela and the Tuguegarao Airport in Cagayan.

Constructed during the time of President Diosdado Macapagal, the President’s father, the airport used to be the temporary landing area of troops and armaments of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East, especially during the last months of the second World War.

Former President Ferdinand Marcos upgraded the airport in his administration’s effort to showcase the Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao as one of the country’s major tourist destinations.

From the airport, it’s only an hour’s ride to reach Banaue, Ifugao.