DAVAO City Vice Mayor J. Melchor Qutain said that they invited officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines-Davao (Caap-Davao) to the City Council session over multiple issues concerning the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, also known as Davao International Airport (DIA).
Quitain said in a radio interview on Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday morning, April 29, 2024, that they had invited the Caap-Davao, Department of Transportation-Davao Region (DOTr-Davao Region), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-Davao Region (LTFRB-Davao), and other offices that a have a role to play in the operation of the airport to the session this May 7, 2024.
“Ang ipadala unta kanang makatubag dili nang sekretarya lang na ang tubag ‘sige lang ako lang ingnon sa akoang amo’. Dili na puwede. He must be able to answer kasi we want answers immediately (I hope the person they will send is not just a secretary who will only say ‘I will report this to my boss.’ It should not be like that. He must be able to answer because we want answers immediately),” he said.
The vice mayor stressed that not only the councilors but also the people of Davao are waiting for answers. He said that the council will not stop until they know the airport's current status.
Quitain said they would request a report from Caap-Davao, and if the latter could not fulfill its promises, the council would have a record of their reports from previous appearances.
He said the city expects an influx of tourists since Davao will host the Ironman 70.3 and the Kadayawan Festival this August.
“Daghan na ta mga turista, mag Ironman baya… gikan laing nasud ang muabot diri, unsaon nalang ingon ana gihapon ang facilities nato. So karon pa lang ato na silang ipatawag then we'll talk (There will be many tourists coming to Davao since we will be hosting the Ironman… foreigners will come here and this is the state of our facilities. So as early as now we will call them [and] then we’ll talk),” he said.
Quitain said they want to talk to Caap-Davao to iron out what it needs further so that the Local Government Unit can help because Davao City needs to boost its tourism.
Apart from the facilities of DIA, Quitain invited LTFRB-Davao into the session to discuss the emergence of taxi drivers not using their meters. The issue arose when several netizens shared their stories on social media complaining that some taxi drivers at DIA are not using the meter anymore.
To recall, Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre, chairperson of the committee on tourism and beautification, in his privilege speech, called the attention of LTFRB-Davao and Caap-Davao over the multiple complaints that their office has collated over time. RGP
Related stories:
