Thursday, September 25, 2008 Air Force mulls Clark pullout By Reynaldo G. Navales
CLARK FREEPORT -- The 600th Air Base Wing of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) is prepared to pull out of this Freeport, a ranking PAF official said.
Newly installed Wing Commander Francisco Cruz said the PAF has commissioned the creation of a master development plan citing Crow Valley in Tarlac Province and Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga as new locations for the 600th Air Base Wing.
Cruz, over the cable program "Aksyon Central Luzon Special Edition" hosted by veteran broadcaster Sonny Lopez Jr., said the total cost of the pullout and transfer of personnel, equipment, and infrastructure from Clark is about P8 billion.
"We are just waiting for the master development plan to be finished before we could proceed with the pullout of personnel," he said, adding that only a small contingent will remain in Clark.
He stressed that the presence of PAF here is vital for the Freeport in terms of security, citing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's vision for Clark when she declared the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport as the country's premier gateway.
"The presence of Air Force personnel inside Clark plays a very important role as far as security measures are concerned, especially now that the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) is on its way to becoming the country's premier gateway," Cruz said.
The PAF is based inside the 333-hectare Air Force City here. The area has 668 housing quarters and accommodates 4,318 people mostly composed of enlisted personnel, dependents, and civilian employees.
It had been staying in a designated area here known as the Clark Air Base Command (Cabcom) when this Freeport used to be the United States' largest military installation in the Asia Pacific Region.
It has continued to secure Clark environs after the US military's pullout following the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991.
The volcanic eruption and bases pullout prompted the government to transform Clark into a special economic zone.
On June 10, 1995, the Department of National Defense, Bases Conversion and Development Authority, and Clark Development Corporation signed a memorandum of agreement for the management, responsibilities, and delineation of areas, among others, of the former Clark Air Base.
This agreement, which does not observe any timetable, is renewable every five years.
