By
Dominic I. Sanchez
BONGAO,
Tawi-Tawi – President Benigno S. Aquino III on
Saturday personally confirmed to the residents of Tawi-Tawi that the
Sanga-Sanga airport is due to be expanded and developed, as funds for this
project have already been appropriated.
“We
will need to buy land for the airport expansion and runway widening,” President
Aquino said, adding that the cost would be P826-million.
The
President shared that the P248-million initial amount is already with the 2015
budget, while the remaining P578-million has already been appropriated for next
year’s budget.
He
called on the local officials to talk with the landowners to ensure that they
will not jack up the prices of the land.
As
shared by a local tourism council member to the President, domestic tourists in
the city in previous years have been recorded to be only at about 200 in a
year. “However, in recent times, they have noted 60,000 tourist arrivals in a
year,” President Aquino said.
The
President joked that when the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) would be passed,
“maybe your problem will be having far more tourists that you can manage.”
“Gusto
nating paunlarin ang Sanga-Sanga Airport (we want to develop the Sanga-Sanga
Airport),” President Aquino said adding, “upang mapadali ang transportasyon at
mapalago ang turismo (so transportation will be faster and there will be more
influx of tourists).”
Department
of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Abaya, who
accompanied the President in Tawi-Tawi shared that they are also exploring the
opening of Cebu-Tawi-Tawi flights via Cebu Pacific.
Tawi-Tawi
is the southernmost province in the country, and is blessed with white sand
beaches, exotic marine life and fine delicacies. Besides that, it is a leading
producer of cassava, among other farm and marine products, and through the
infrastructure projects, delivery of these goods will be shortened
exponentially to the end-users and consumers. Better accessibility is also seen
by the local and national government to boost tourism.
