CDC, CIAC hit on hot air balloon fest

• Source: http://punto.com.ph/News/Article/26481/Volume-10-No-47/Headlines/span-style-color-rgb-255-0-0-span-style-text-decoration-underline--lsquo-DANGEROUS-TO-AIRPORT-rsquo--span--span-br-CDC-CIAC-hit-on-hot-air-balloon-fest
• Sunday, January 8, 2017

By Ashley Manabat

CLARK FREEPORT — The Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) has once again assailed the planned holding of the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta (PIHABF) set here on February 9 to 12.

PGKM chair Ruperto Cruz is now calling on President Rodrigo Duterte to intervene for the sake of the development of the Clark International Airport (CIA) which he promised in his SONA.

Cruz described as “callous” the insistence of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) to hold the PIHABF at this freeport especially at this time when more flights are starting to come in to the CIA.

He said it is also both “dangerous and a hindrance” to the development of the CIA to hold the PIHABF here.

Cruz noted that the holding of the PIHABF will require a special permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) which will then issue a corresponding “notice to airmen (NOTAM)” to the CIA affecting normal flight operations at the Clark airport.

Flight diversion and delays of at least two hours are expected to be experienced by airline passengers of the CIA due to the NOTAM.

The PGKM has time and again assailed the holding of the PIHABF here citing the development of the CIA to attract more flights.

“We cannot compromise the development of the Clark airport just to give way to the hot air balloon fiesta,” Cruz said.

“There is already a place for hot air balloons in Lubao which will not affect flight operations in Clark because it is 33 nautical miles away from the Clark airport. Why insists on holding it Clark where normal flight operations will be affected,” Cruz pointed out.

The PGKM chair also assailed CIAC OIC Alex Cauguiran for allowing the holding of the PIHABF.

Cruz said the PIHABF is a private entity and should not be subsidized by government funds.

“It is an organized corruption,” Cruz said adding that the PIHABF is a “milking cow” of corrupt officials.

Cruz also lambasted Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade for his continuous disregard for the development of the Clark airport since he assumed the presidency of the CDC in 2012 where he allowed the establishments of the Capilion project and Honda Cars Philippines at the entrance of the freeport.

Published reports said “Over Two Decades of Flying High” will be the theme of the balloon festival this here year.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) launched the PIHBF in Clark in 1993, two years after the devastation brought about by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo to generate attention from both domestic and international entities that will invest and transform the former military base into a bustling economic hub.