EDITORIAL - Big dreams

Cebu is nowhere near New York, London, Paris, Washington D.C. or Tokyo. But that doesn’t mean it cannot dream big. And if it wants to dream big, it would do well to learn a few things about these great cities of the world.

Now, what do these great cities have in common that has got a little something to do with a current issue being debated by Cebu residents? All of these cities have multiple airports that complement one another.

New York has John F. Kennedy and La Guardia, plus Newark Libery that it shares with nearby New Jersey. Washington D.C. also has three — Dulles International, Ronald Reagan National and Baltimore-Washington International.

London has even more with five — Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City. Paris has two in Orly and Charles de Gaulle while Tokyo has likewise two, Narita and Haneda. Again Cebu is nowhere near any of the above five cities and it only has one airport, Mactan Cebu International.

But Cebu can dream big. The possibilities and opportunities for Cebu are boundless. It can even have two airports. Already, there are studies suggesting Cebu is going to need another airport in the near future. One suggestion is for a new airport to be built up north, in Bogo.

Of course this is just a suggestion, and therefore up for discussion. Nevertheless, it is a far more positive and welcome suggestion — to build another airport — than another suggestion that calls for the sale of Mactan Cebu International, and the building of another nearby.

What this other suggestion lacks in logic is more than made up in zeal by its proponents, who in making the proposal stand to profit immensely from the real estate involved should the plan materialize.

But back to the reason for mentioning five of the greatest cities in the world. These cities found it better to build more instead of getting rid of perfectly working airports and replace them with others.

Mactan Cebu International is still doing pretty well. But as the future will eventually catch up with it, the more logical thing is to build another, not sell it and build another with funds that are still up in the air, and on land that is still under the sea.