Clark locators press for more flights to DMIA

Posted on June 30, 2008

Business locators here called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the immediate passage of Executive Order 500B that would add more flights to the sprawling Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.

In a letter to President Arroyo, Jeannie Del Rosario-Ng, Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) president, said the proposal of Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza making DMIA a “port of entry” is “not the answer.”

Ng said the Asean Open Skies, as pushed by Mendoza, may take time before its full implementation and it applies only to capital cities.

DMIA may not be covered and is not ready to handle the full traffic of the Asean Open Skies, she said, adding that the scheme covers only designated carriers and Asean members.

Ng said most of the airlines calling on DMIA are not from Asean member countries.

“We would like to advocate for the scheduling and successful conclusion of air talks with our major and new partners in tourism, trade and overseas employment and the acceptance of proposals by other countries for liberal air access to enable long-term growth and development of the aviation industry in general,” Ng said in a letter to President Arroyo.

CILA is the biggest group of locators and investors inside the Freeport, which has more than 400 locators that employ at least 50,000 workers.

“We, the locators of the Clark Freeport, believe in the potential for the SCAD Corridor and have invested significant time, money, and effort to be part of what your administration envisions to be the major economic growth center for this country,” Ng said. – Ashley Jay Manabat, GMANews.TV

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