2nd DAY DRAG RACE ELIMINATION ROUND CROWD SWELLS TO OVER 8,000 AS TULABONG FEST HEATS UP

As expected, the crowd in the second and final day of the motorcycle drag race eliminations for the 1st TULABONG FESTIVAL on Feb. 16, swelled to over 8,000 filling up the 1.2-km. runway of the M’lang North Cotabato Airport in Barangay Tawantawan today.

Events coordinator Councilor Freddie Sales said the crowd swelled towards the late afternoon as veteran drag racers from the different provinces in Central Mindanao competed for the chance to appear in the finals of the motorcycle drag race on Feb. 16.

The motorcycle drag races, which will be in different categories, are part of the two-day 1st Tulabong Festival scheduled Feb. 15 and 16 to celebrate the start of the construction of the second and final phase of the M’lang Airport.

An airshow featuring two Ultralight planes piloted by Capt. Rey Acosta and Capt. Sam Mente of Australia and a skyjumping show will highlight the celebration.

President Benigno S. Aquino III has ordered the release of P154-M for the airport’s additional runway, the control tower and the fire station which would make the airport operational by 2014.

With the start of the final phase of the consrtruction, M’lang Mayor Lito Pinol declared the third week of February as the Tulabong Festival to celebrate the realization of a dream which I started to nurture when I became mayor of M’lang in 1995.

The M’lang Airport, now known as the North Cotabato Airport, started to take shape in 2005 and had a soft opening in 2009.

It was abandoned from 2009 until President Aquino ordered its completion last year and released the funds needed for the airport.

(photo caption: A sea of humanity fills the Mlang Airport runway during the drag race eliminations yesterday.)