CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is pushing Clark Freeport and Clark International as viable alternatives to decongest Metro Manila.
During the recently weekly Pandesal Forum at the Kamuning Bakery Cafe in Quezon City, BCDA president and Chief Executive Officer Arnel Paciano Casanova said plans to ease the traffic congestion in Metro Manila must be included in the programs of governance of presidential candidates which may include the transfer of other key industries and major public offices in other regions like Central Luzon which has the necessary infrastructure and socio-economic system.
The proposal to decongest Metro Manila, which was broached by the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. two years ago, should be included in the political discourse among candidates running for president in the May 2016 elections.
“The respective platforms for next year’s elections will surely point to improving the lives of Filipinos. But if we truly wish to achieve quality of life, let us work toward easing the congestion in Metro Manila,” Casanova said.
Last week when Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas visited Pampanga, he discussed with local officials here the proposal to make Clark International Airport as the new international gateway of the Philippines to decongest Metro Manila and construct a railway for fast trains to ferry not only passengers but those working and living in the nearby provinces.
Roxas stressed that Clark airport should not be the “alternative” or “twin airport” to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), but the true “premier gateway” of the country.
He added that the expansion of NAIA is already not feasible or “doable” because it only has 440 hectares compared to Clark, which has 2,000 hectares.
Roxas also shunned the idea of constructing an airport in areas to be reclaimed in Sangley and a location in Bulacan province, which is very near Clark in Pampanga.
Casanova also presented the Clark Green City project as a viable alternative outside of Metro Manila to host vital public offices and key private sector institutions, including universities and colleges.
Clark Green City is a 9,450-hectare master planned property within the Clark Special Economic Zone, approximately half the size of Metro Manila, eyed to be the country’s first smart, green and disaster-resilient metropolis. (JTD)