Execs ‘happy’ over inclusion of Tacloban Airport in Sona

TACLOBAN officials gave positive feedback over the latest State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Benigno Aquino III, particularly when he mentioned the upgrading of Tacloban DZR Aiport.

Representative Neil Benedict Montejo (An Waray party-list), who has been continuously asking help from the government in providing funds for the continuation of the airport upgrading, said he is happy that finally the President declared on the rehabilitation of the DZR Airport.

DZR Aiport is the seventh busiest airport in the country, with 18 daily flights servicing Cebu and Manila routes.

“Our effort was not wasted,” Montejo said, referring to the series of talks and follow-ups they made before the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

Initial budget allocated by the government for the upgrading, according to Montejo is P200 million, while the actual work may start before the year ends.

“But Secretary (Rene) Limcauco said that they will also do a re-alignment of funds for additional funding of the upgrading and improvement of the DZR airport to ensure that works will continue until their target date which is on 2014,” he added.

Councilor Cristina Romualdez, chairperson of Committee on Tourism, said: “We hope that this will be implemented as soon as possible for it is not only the city of Tacloban but the entire region that will benefit from the upgrading of the airport.”

“Flights continuously are added in the airport and the number of airlines providing services at DZR is also increasing in the past years, which is an indication that our airport is one of the gems that contributes to our economy,” Councilor Jerry Yaokasin said. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)