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| Marinduque Airport. |
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC)
has affirmed to Congressman Lord Allan Q. Velasco the allocation of funds
for the development of Marinduque Airport in the CY 2013, amounting to a total of
Php 80-M. The scope of works to be undertaken are the expansion of apron (Php
20-M), the rehabilitation of PTB (Php 6-M),the concrete paving of taxiway (Php
4-M), all of which are to be funded by DOTC totaling Php 30-M), and the
continuation of improvement of runway (Php 50-M) to be funded from Civil
Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP CY 2013).
In a letter dated Sept. 24, 2012, to Cong. Velasco,
Assistant Secretary for Planning, Atty. Jaime Raphael C. Feliciano also informed
the Congressman that for the continued development of the Marinduque Airport,
DOTC has further endorsed Velasco’s request to CAAP, the agency directly
responsible for the financing and development of national airports, for consideration in the
preparation of their annual program.
There was local controversy that erupted here when the provincial government of Marinduque, through Governor Carmencita O. Reyes, announced that a bank loan has been negotiated by her, part of which is the rehabilitation of the airport runway in the amount of Php 100-M. A petition filed in August and September 2012 by concerned citizens led by the Marinduque First Saturday Movers, Inc. (MFSMI), an NGO composed of prominent Marinduquenos for the repeal/withdrawal of three resolutions passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Marinduque concernng the loan, has apparently been ignored up to the present. The proposed loan has totalled Php 300-M.
Marinduque Movers stressed in its petition that "repair of our Airport should not be undertaken by the provincial government", further contesting Gov. Reyes' statement "that the P100M from the proceeds of the planned loan to be spent for the improvement of the Marinduque Airport shall be reimbursed by the DOTC is hard to believe as it will contradict government established rules and regulations on expenditures".
