Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said that, in the worst-case scenario that the existing Bacolod Airport is closed, they will still bat for its re-opening as a secondary airport, but do not expect it to be competing with the airport in Silay.

Leonardia said he will have a meeting soon with Airport Security people because they would like to be assured that nothing will happen to the old airport if ever it is closed upon the opening of the airport in Silay.

They are concerned that the runway lights and other equipment there might be lost or damaged and be used as a reason not to reopen the airport, he said.

Leonardia submitted the petition for the retention of the existing Bacolod Airport to Malacañang last week together with 100,000 signatures supporting it.

He reiterated that they are not against the opening of the airport in Silay.

Leonardia said they called the attention of Executive Secretary Edgardo Ermita, who received the petition, to a provision according to the Lizares and Torres families that the property is meant for an airport. So that if it is going to be sold, or used for something else, they may have a legal right to take it back, he said.

“So that for these people who are talking and dreaming of five-star hotels, call centers and many other land use dreams, please remember that there is a possibility that could revert the property back to the original owners,” Leonardia said.

With the SP on his side, they have requested the national government to donate the 17 hectares owned by the government to Bacolod City , he said. The 20 other hectares is owned by Philippine Airlines.

Leonardia said they envision the area to be expanded through reclamation. “If you reclaim that area, for one you can lengthen the runway,” he said. That is the more ideal site for development of an export processing zone and they can even have a port constructed in that reclamation area, he added.

“These are medium and long-term plans but we believe this is the more better, more logical and more realistic dream,” Leonardia said.

Leonardia also said the move to convert the airport into a flying school elicited favorable response from an Indian group because there is a shortage of pilots in India . He said he believes the problem does not just affect India but is worldwide because aviation has grown by leaps and bounds in the past years and it is projected that tourism will become the number one industry in the world, he said.

This means that airplanes and airports will be very much in demand, he added.

Leonardia said they don't believe that, at this time, the distance between the two airports is a problem. He said Rodolfo Alvarez and Andy Hagad, who are both pilots, presented maps showing that the airports in Texas are even nearer than of the airports in Bacolod and Silay. The airports can also operate with one control tower, he added.

Leonardia said he and members of the Retain Bacolod Airport Movement have not given up. “We will continue to pursue this for as long as there is a possibility of operating the existing airport,” he said.

He said he just wants the people of Bacolod to be given an option.*CGS

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