NEWSFLASH

NEW AIRPORT IN LEBAK, SULTAN KUDARAT

Sultan Kudarat, Jan. 25, 1999 - For thousands of residents of Lebak town along the southern coast of Mindanao, a trip to the capital town of Isulan, Sultan Kudarat meant a 7-hour motorboat ride to Cotabato City from where they would go by land via the national highway to Isulan.

The same roundabout transportation problem hounded businessmen, government officials and tourists to and from dozens of other coastal towns in that part of Mindanao.

All that has changed with the opening of the PacificAir Lebak Airstrip in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, the second rural airport built under the Estrada presidency.

Secretary Vicente Rivera Jr. of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) bared this year's priorities of the Estrada administration's Rural Air Transport Program during the recent inauguration of the PacificAir-Lebak Airstrip. The PacificAir-Coron Airport in Coron, Palawan was inaugurated late last year.

Similar rural airports would be put up soon in the municipalities of Bantayan and Camotes in Cebu as well as in other faraway places elsewhere in the country.

"This country cannot fully develop without a strong rural air transport system," Rivera said in his speech during the inauguration ceremony for the PacificAir-Lebak Airport.

"A robust air transport system is seen as an important prerequisite to the country's overall development strategy," the DOTC secretary said.

Speaking at the Centennial rites of the DOTC last Wednesday, President Estrada said the vigorous implementation of the rural airport program is one of the priority areas of his government so "our people can look forward to better and improved transportation facilities and services."

"We will vigorously pursue our Rural Airport Program that will give better access to our remote areas, such as the recently opened Lebak Airport in Sultan Kudarat and the Coron Rural Airport in Palawan," Mr. Estrada said.

In line with his administration's pro-poor agenda, he said, the 1999 infrastructure program has been "reoriented" to focus public investment in the countryside, "for more and better ports, rural airports, and municipal telephones in remote areas."

The President lauded the DOTC for being in the forefront of his administration's efforts to put in place, among other initiatives, "appropriate transport networks that should enhance the mobility of goods, people and services."

In his speech during the inauguration of the Lebak airstrip, Rivera commended PacificAir for its strong support for President Estrada's rural air transport program.

With the opening of the airport in Lebak town, Rivera said its residents could now market their goods faster to the various trading centers in Mindanao.

The Estrada administration has so far put up airstrips in two remote areas and is building more rural airports in the months ahead in line with its heightened efforts to upgrade our air transport system and energize the countryside.

Secretary Vicente Rivera Jr. of the Department of Transportation and Communications DOTC) said the fast-track establishment of rural airports underscores the commitment of President Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada to genuine countryside development.

With the seven domestic operators servicing only an aggregate of 32 destinations covering 59 percent of the country's population, Rivera said it is thus the Estrada administration's goal to establish more rural airports as a way to encourage non-schedule air transport operators like Pacific Airways (PacificAir) to service the remaining 41 percent of our population.

Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi