REP. Raul del Mar wants “Cebu” to stay in the proposed new name of the international airport. House Bill 8170 that del Mar filed and Cebu’s other House members co-authored seeks to change the airport name from “Mactan-Cebu International Airport” to “Lapu-Lapu-Cebu International Airport.” Replace “Mactan” with “Lapu-Lapu” but keep “Cebu.” From MCIA to LCIA.
Here comes Presidential Legislative Liaison Secretary Adelino Sitoy, former mayor of Cordova town, who wants “Mactan” retained. He says he will ask the President to veto the bill, calling the proposal to remove Mactan’s “place in history” as being greedy. Keep “Mactan,” Sitoy says.
Pitch for Cebu
Del Mar says that by retaining “Cebu” they uphold the historical value of the name and its practical and useful purpose: easier location and identification for tourism and investments. The world recognizes Cebu more quickly, del Mar says.
Both Sitoy and del Mar are trying to protect the interest of their respective constituents. Del Mar is carrying and waving the Cebu flag. Sitoy in rooting for Mactan is defending the island of Mactan, of which his hometown Cordova (where he is former mayor) is very much a part. Mactan already lost the city’s name to Lapu-Lapu, now it would not lose the airport name too.
Bill’s route
Del Mar’s bill just passed the House committee on transportation and will be set for second then third reading before it will go to the Senate. A long and arduous route that will be shortened only if President Duterte certifies it as urgent.
And it’s not urgent, given the crises the country is facing. The goal is recognition of Lapu-Lapu as a national hero, whom the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) wants to honor with a national plaza and monument and a national holiday on April 27, 2021, the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Mactan. There’s still time.
Passage of the bill in the House will tell the NHCP that Cebuanos want to keep the name “Cebu.” The House members from Cebu, including Lapu-Lapu’s Rep. Aileen Radaza, support the bill.
Public hearing
Sitoy though wants Cebuanos to speak out through a public hearing. Public hearings are mostly symbolic but so is the representation of House members in Congress. Theoretically, they are voices of the people in their districts but they hardly consult them, voting according to their personal interest which they assume is the people’s interest.
A public hearing will be interesting though, if just to learn more about Sitoy’s argument that Lapu-Lapu is “only a small chieftain” in Mactan.
That must not be how Duterte thinks of Lapu-Lapu. Last Aug. 27, the President expressed support to the NHCP plan. To Duterte, Lapu-Lapu was the native who “killed the supremo of the expedition,” referring to foreign invader Magellan in the fabled 1521 that the Villame song promotes.
How about LMCIA?
“Lapu-Lapu” must get in, if Duterte and the NHCP will have their wish. And keeping “Cebu” is not disputable. But does it have to be an “either or” for “Cebu” and “Mactan”?
They might decide to keep “Mactan” as well. Something like “Lapu-Lapu-Mactan-Cebu International Airport.” The full name is longer by one word but the alphabet name is tolerable, still easy to recall: LMCIA.