HOUSE Committee on Ways and Means Chairman and Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Sarte Salceda has requested the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to include a P600-700 million allotment for relocating National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) towers to allow the Bicol International Airport (BIA) to expand its runways to accommodate international flights.

Salceda made the formal request following a February 7 meeting between him and transport officials on the status of international flights from the BIA.

“During this representation’s February 7 meeting with the honorable Secretary, the CAAP emphasized the need to relocate towers of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines that stand in the way of runway expansion to allow for international flights in the Bicol International Airport,” Salceda wrote in a March 10, 2023 letter to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.

“In view of this and the ongoing budget call, may I urgently request that the Department of Transportation include the estimated P600-700 million required to complete the relocation in its budget request for the National Expenditure Plan (NEP),” Salceda added.

“This representation will fully endorse such a request by the DOTr with the economic managers and support its adoption by the House leadership in the House General Appropriations Bill (HGAB),” Salceda also assured transport officials.

Salceda bared that the reason international flights could not be accommodated currently is due to high tension wire, making the runway “shorter.”

PAL (Philippine Airlines) wanted to locate some OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) flights during the pandemic in BIA but could not due to the same restriction.

Salceda, as a former adviser to President Arroyo, requested the former President to fund the feasibility studies and preparatory works for the project in 2004 while he was a congressman and later urged for its completion until the Duterte administration.

BIA is envisioned as the country’s most scenic gateway and was supposed to take international flights this year if not for the technical issue, according to the Albay solon.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ryan Ponce Pacpaco