Yesterday, shortly before the start of an orientation workshop for our political leaders in my hometown M’lang, I asked Mayor Lito Pinol, my younger brother, to accompany me to the airport site in Barangay Tawantawan.
This is a project I started dreaming about when I became Mayor of Mlang in 1995 and which finally took shape when I became Governor when the provincial government bought a 62-hectare from the Buenaflor Hacienda in Tawantawan.
The last time I saw the airport was in December 2009 when then Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo led the soft-opening rites of the airport project.
I was Vice Governor at that time and I was eager to get back to the Governorship to finally realize the operation of the airport which I have designed to be the gateway for the export of our highly perishable agricultural products intended for the big cities.
My vision of the airport area was for it to be surrounded by processing plants for hogs to be raised by farmers assisted and supported by the provincial government and a dressing plant for an organically raised Halal-meat chicken project along with other processing facilities for our farmers’ produce.
Things changed when I lost an election where pre-election survey figures showed me well ahead. It was one of the most controversial electoral contests in the Philippines.
What I saw yesterday made me sick in the stomach.
Grass was slowly creeping into the 1,200 meter concrete runway while the terminal building was occupied by an army infrantry battalion.
The project which could have provided jobs to about 2,000 young people from North Cotabato and made travel more convenient for people from North Cotabato, Maguindanao, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat has been abandoned for the last two years and a half.
The airport has become a visible victim of twisted politics.
The current leadership in North Cotabato has chosen to ignore the project simply because it was initiated by Manny Pinol and later on sustained by then Gov. Jesus Sacdalan.
This kind of sick politics where even outstanding projects which could bring about the growth and the development of the community are abandoned and even destroyed because the new political leaders do not want their political nemesis to get positive credits is what has dragged down the development of this country.
It is a good thing that now Cong. Sacdalan has succeeded in getting an additional P154.5-M which would be used to build a control tower, install the aviation instruments and extend the runway for another 600 meters to allow the Airbus 300 type of aircraft to land.
With the national government showing interest to develop the Mlang Airport into a vital transport facility in Central Mindanao, this major infrastructure project which could create jobs and develop North Cotabato will soon be operational.
(photo caption: Mlang Mayor Lito Pinol and I inspect the 1.2 kilometer long concrete runway of the Mlang Rural Airport.)
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