Emotions ran high yesterday as Bacolod City residents waved goodbye to Philippine Airlines PR136 at 6:40 p.m. , the last flight out of the Bacolod Airport .

Seeing the last plane taking off from the tarmac along with Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, members of the press, airport security and personnel, PAL Bacolod manager Job Lamela said he felt sad and at the same time excited.

Sad, as he was leaving his office at the airport where he had reported for work everyday for the past 44 years, and excited to see his new office in the Silay airport today. Lamela started as a ticket clerk of PAL in 1964 and will retire from the service in November this year.

Flight captain Gilbert Marasigan from Lipa, Batangas said his adrenaline was high and he felt privileged to be on the historic flight out of the Bacolod airport.

Marasigan said the facility has a “soft spot” in his heart and it has become his favorite airport since he started flying to Bacolod four years ago.

On board the flight were 152 passengers that included former Rep. Carlos Cojuangco (Neg. Occ., 4 th District), businessman Ed Alunan, lawyer Solomon Lobrido and Edwin Nacionales.

Nacionales, who used to head the Special Projects Program of the Negros Occidental provincial government under the administration of Gov. Rafael Coscolluela, said the flight is sentimental for him as he was chairman of the airport study group that studied the transfer of the airport in Silay.

Alunan said he took the sentimental journey out of the Bacolod facility as it is the airport his grandfather never reached when his flight from Koronadal, Mindanao crashed in 1947 on its way to Negros Occidental. He is taking the first flight today on board the Cebu Pacific that is scheduled to land the airport in Silay at 5:30 a.m.

Airport security men PO2 Stephen David, who has been working at the airport for 12 years, said he will miss the convenience of going to the Bacolod Airport , which is near his house and he felt sad for the vendors who will be displaced from their source of income.

Convenience is also the one of things Lamela said he will miss most at the Bacolod Airport where he only has to walk a short distance from his office to the tarmac, or to the parking lot.

However, he is excited to be moving to a better and modern facility in Silay, where hopefully, airport operation will be more fluid.

Asked for his most memorable experience at the Bacolod Airport , Lamela said it was the time when one of PAL's aircrafts overshot the runway and he had to deal with the situation as the company's manager.

But he said there is no question as far as safety is concern in the Bacolod Airport , since the facility is safe for aircrafts that are allowed to land there. However, he said the area is too small that they can no longer expand the terminal.

At the moment, he said he just felt honored to be the last PAL manager at the old airport, and first manager in the new one in Silay.*NAB

back to top