The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod has formed an Ad Hoc Committee on the proposal to put up an economic zone that includes an airport for Bacolod City once the airport in Silay becomes operational, Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson said yesterday.

Sayson said the committee is composed of the Committees on Trade, Commerce and Industry; Transportation and Traffic; Laws, Ordinances and Good Government; Finance; Communications and Energy; Ways and Means and Public Works.

Sayson said all the chairmen of the committees involved will meet soon to choose its head. The committee was created to find out so they would know what to do with the existing airport once the Bacolod Silay Airport becomes operational before the end of this year.

Sayson said there is a concept of converting the area into an ecozone with an airport in the middle of it. He said there is also a possibility of converting the area into an export processing zone.

City Administrator Roger Balo said he is finalizing his recommendation on the Bacolod Airport.

Balo said he was tasked by Mayor Evelio Leonardia to make a study on the alternative utilization of the existing airport since the Mayor wants to convince the national government not to sell it.

“As much as possible, we want to maintain the Bacolod airport as an alternative site or a backup airport for small aircrafts,” Balo said. However, there is an Air Transportation Office rule that there should be no two airports existing within a radius of 50 kilometers, he said.

Balo said according to a PAL official, business tycoon Lucio Tan, who owns half of the property, is willing to let Air Philippines use the airport. He said the city wants to maintain the existing airport because an airport is a component of the growth and development of a locality.

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