Camotes to have terminal and airplane hangar soon

Camotes Island as an iconic destination of Cebu, Durano recently passed House Bill 2668 also known as “An Act Providing for the Rehabilitation, Improvement and Modernization of the Camotes Airport in the town of San Francisco, Cebu.” Camotes Island, located northeast of Cebu, was chosen by the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Central Visayas as the “new iconic product” in the region as it boasts of a fresh water lake, white sand beaches and caves among others. As an iconic product, Camotes is among the priority destinations of the DOT that already benefited from the assistance of the tourism department.



CEBU, Philippines - After paving a 1.2-kilometer runway in the town of San Francisco, Camotes Island, the Cebu provincial government is also planning to construct a terminal building and an airplane hangar in the same island.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia met yesterday with Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority general manager Nigel Paul Villarete to further discuss her plan to construct an airport in Camotes Island, as well as in Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island.
Garcia said the Capitol has already appropriated a budget for the project, whose runway has already been planned by the engineering department.
The provincial government is also coordinating with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines about the project.
“We shall be writing formally to the board of the MCIAA to inform them as regards to the intention of Cebu to construct, operate, and maintain an airport in Camotes as well as Bantayan,” she said.
Garcia said they will start the construction most probably before the year ends, especially that there are no longer any property issues on the 22-hectare land now owned by the Capitol unlike in Bantayan, where they still have to iron out lot ownership issues.
The governor said she is set to go to Sta. Fe to settle the issue.
“We already have an inventory of all the property owners through which the existing airstrip traverses and I intend to meet with them and to apprise them of the plans of the province,” she said.


Aside from the needed papers for the construction, Garcia said the bill drafted earlier by fifth district representative Ramon “Red” Durano IV has already been passed to the Lower House.
“Kumpleto na sa tanang tax declaration, wa nay mga concerns. Just a matter of formally informing the MCIA authority and the CAAP,” the governor said.
The budget allocated for the construction of the airports was taken from the annual budget of the Capitol. Next year, Capitol will appropriate another P25 million budget each for the construction of the airports in both islands.
To further push Camotes Island as an iconic destination of Cebu, Durano recently passed House Bill 2668 also known as “An Act Providing for the Rehabilitation, Improvement and Modernization of the Camotes Airport in the town of San Francisco, Cebu.”
With the said bill, Durano pushes for the rehabilitation of the Camotes airport to accommodate big aircrafts under the supervision of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Garcia said the construction of the airport in the islands is really a need.
“You know very well that there’s an upsurge of tourists in Camotes and there are times when it would not be feasible to go by sea so mas maayo jud nang duna tay air support,” Garcia said.
Camotes Island, located northeast of Cebu, was chosen by the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Central Visayas as the “new iconic product” in the region as it boasts of a fresh water lake, white sand beaches and caves among others.
As an iconic product, Camotes is among the priority destinations of the DOT that already benefited from the assistance of the tourismdepartment.
However, the issue on transportation accessibility is one of the main problems, why Camotes cannot take off as a major island destination of Cebu.     - (THE FREEMAN)

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