Friday, August 17, 2007 Oti shrugs off signature drive to retain old airport
AMID the furor on whether to retain the Singcang-Bacolod Airport, Silay Mayor Jose "Oti" Montelibano remained upbeat in his position, stating there is no need to quarrel over the issue.
Montelibano stressed, "Retain or not, if Bacolod will benefit from it, why not?"
"The problem is that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had decided based on the 50-kilometer radius rule and therefore the Singcang-Bacolod Airport must go," Montelibano said.
"I have no problem with the million signatures spearheaded by the Retain the Airport Movement. The President might change her mind, who knows. What matters now is let us all work together for a greater Negros," Montelibano added.
"What everyone is worried about is probably the access road and the distance from our capital city of Bacolod. The roads can be done in 60 days and the work has began. See for themselves," the mayor also said.
Montelibano said the Silay Tourism Office has scheduled tours every Thursday, one at 10 a.m., the other at 4 p.m., adding, "It’s difficult to be saying something against the Bacolod-Silay Airport if you have not seen it yourself."
"In the globalization aspect, the economic zones will follow. I am not thinking of Silay alone, but the whole island including Bacolod that will benefit from all these," he said.
"But let us all work for a greater Negros. Let us not compete and be negative about everything and waste time and efforts dealing with useless issues and wrong information that only confuses the public," he added.
Meanwhile, Board Member Patrick Lacson stressed, "In a few months time, Silay will be the center of opportunities and big investments. That is why, I'm hoping the National and the Provincial Governments would focus now in Silay not because it is my district but because we all decided to put the airport there." (GABS)
