IN THE early years, when people mention of San Miguel, the first thing that come to mind is the popular beer brewed in barrio Marulas, Valenzuela, Bulacan. The San Miguel brewery plant in Valenzuela was formerly owned by the late Andres Soriano Sr. a Spanish expat. Over a period of time it changed hands and landed in the lap of Boss Eduardo 'Danding' Cojuangco. It grew bigger and became profitable further. Then it became a conglomerate. Thanks to Ramon S. Ang aka RSA, the favorite mechanic of the Mercedes Benz fleet of a Boss Danding, who took charge of the giant corporation some years back. With RSA at the helm it is now involved in various enterprises.
San Miguel Corporation (SMC) recently as reported by national newspapers obtained the original proponent status with an offer to build an air gateway somewhere in Bulacan, some kilometers away from Clark airport. As the original proponent, government agencies, particularly National Economic Development Authority (Neda) will now evaluate the SMC proposal. Now the question we can ask: Will the proposed air gateway will not delay further the development of the Clark airport into an international gateway which in future time be the main entry of all international travels?
How many times we cited what aviation and financial gurus are one in saying that the best option for the Philippines to build its international gateway is in the aviation complex of Clark Freeport, and that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) should be downgraded as a secondary airport since its 3.2 kilometer single runway can no longer accomodate the larger aircrafts. And the runway has no more room for expansion. The terminals are too congested, causing so much incovenience to airline passengers. The Clark aviation complex has more than 2400 hectares with two 3.5 kilometer parallel runways with more room for expansion.
There were several efforts in the past since it was reopened in 1993 for the Clark airport to be either the main gateway or utilized as a secondary airport since Ninoy Aquino International Airport is already beyond its capacity.
The last proponent to propose the build the gateway was the Al Kharafi group of Kuwait in 2008 and took the CIAC board more than two years in discussing and evaluating the proposal only to be overtaken by the assumption into office of then President Noynoy Aquino without closure. His administration showed little interest in the development of the Clark airport. Earlier, a dozen companies also expressed interest in the development of the Clark airport. I remember Manny Pangilinan and Reghis Romero, who are both cabalens, expressing interest.
After several failures in the preceding years of getting joint venture partners, new tacks were tried but still no success. Hopefully now, with the new leadership under DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade with a strong willed president backing him up things will go beyond planning.
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+ All roads lead to the cemeteries today and tomorrow. All Saints Day and All Souls Day.
+I don't get it. How come people flock to the cemeteries on All Saints Day. Isn't that a day for the saints and not for the departed? Will somebody please explain. I will be grateful.