The new airport

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Today, after almost ten years of planning and building, the new so-called Bacolod-Silay Airport will be inaugurated with the Vice President of the Philippines presiding over the ceremonies. After a protracted and sometimes controversial construction, marked by so many incidents, including a destructive attack attributed to the New People's Army, those who had dreamed of and those who believe the project is advantageous to them, will gaze at the new facility and bask in their “success”.

As the new airport begins to function, the people of Negros Occidental will have a chance to assess the wisdom of choosing this particular site for its location. It is to be recalled that when the idea of building a new airport that would serve the entire province of Negros Occidental , all but two or three of the town and city mayors then in office had expressed their preference for another place. For some reason or another, however, the funding agency had decided, or been persuaded, to choose the one where the facility has been constructed, and which is to start operating today.

Before the opening, a lot of misgivings had been expressed, most important of which was the fact that the airport, its terminal building, tarmac and runway, had been completed and readied, but nobody had attended to the very vital adjunct that is the highway that would facilitate smooth, safe and convenient travel to it from various parts of the province that it is serving.

This is hindsight now, but the site that the mayors had opted for at the outset was one that could have been accessed by several cities and towns as well.

But, as most of our people, and even our officials say, this airport is already there, it is completed, the P5.6 has been spent, all of it, we hope, on the project. So let us accept and use it, and pray it will serve us as we hope.*