Rizal stadium transfer to Clark hits snag anew

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philppines  – The plan to transfer the Manila’s Rizal Memorial Stadium to this freeport has been relegated to limbo allegedly over disagreements on lease cost.

There are talks, however, that the move was stalled by the involvement of presidential uncle former Tarlac Rep. Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, president of the Philippine Olympics Committee (POC) in the project. Cojuangco has lately been an outspoken critic of his nephew Pres. Aquino.

But Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and chief executive officer Emigdio Tanjuatco, a second cousin of the President, denied this, saying the conflict revolved around the issue of land lease cost.

In a forum with the Capampangans in Media Inc. (CAMI), Tanjuatco said that project proponent Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) had wanted to lease some 50 hectares of land for the construction of a new Rizal stadium at the cost of P150,000 annually.

Tanjuatco said that, on the other hand, the CIAC board had sought lease rates of P150,000 per hectare or P7.5 million per year.

A source who asked not to be named so as not to be embroiled in the controversy expressed doubts on this, saying that the higher lease rates were designed to derail the transfer of the memorial stadium here amid the involvement of Cojuangco as POC president.

“Cojaungco’s term as POC president lasts up to February next year so perhaps we can be more positive about realizing our plans after that,” the source said.

The initial plan was to build a new P3.5-billion national stadium replacing Manila’s old Rizal Memorial Stadium. Inspections for a site here were already done earlier this year by the House Committee on Youth and Sports, the PSC, and the POC.

Pampanga Rep. Joseller “Yeng” Guiao, chairman of the House’s Technical Working Group (TWG) for the project, cited an area near the Clark International Airport as probable site for the new stadium.

Guiao and Tanjuatco then said the proposed stadium would not affect future expansion plans for the Clark airport.

In an interview, Tanjuatco said the site eyed for the stadium would not derail future plans for the Clark airport, noting that enough space has been reserved for future airport plans even beyond 2032 to accommodate an estimated 80 million passengers annually.

“The Rizal stadium is not functioning anymore. It is hounded by traffic problems and obsolete facilities,” Guiao said.

He said that apart from national government funding, other possible sources of funds for the new stadium are the sale of the 10-hectare land of the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

“But this is a problem because the family which donated the land imposed the condition that it would be used only for a sports stadium,” he noted.