Davao wants airport authority to take over

Source: MindaNews

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 8 May) - The City Council here passed a resolution on Tuesday urging the national government to expedite the turnover of management of the local airport to the Davao International Airport Authority (DIAA).

But Rex Obcena, area manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), told the councilors that the DIAA, created under Republic Act 11457 (also known as the Charter of the Davao International Airport Authority), has not been fully constituted as it still lacks seven members from the private sector.

The Davao International Airport, officially known as the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, is currently being run by the CAAP's Davao office even though RA 11457 was approved into law under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2019.

Manifested by City Councilor Bernard Al-ag during the Sangguniang Panlungsod's session under suspended rules, the resolution aims to urge Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista to fast-track turnover of management of the airport to the DIAA.

CAAP is under the supervision of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Al-ag said DIAA must push through as soon as possible as it, by design, will help to address pressing issues the airport faces.

RA 11457 aimed to "undertake the economical, efficient, and effective control" of the airport. It also mandates the proposed body to upgrade airport facilities and formulate "internationally-accepted standards" in terms of service and accommodation.

The DIAA, as specified in RA 11457, is under the management of a board of directors, with the transport secretary as chair and the general manager of the DIAA as vice chair.

Other ex officio members of the board are the director general of the CAAP or his representative; the secretaries (or their representatives) of the Department of Finance, Department of Justice, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Tourism; and a non-elective official from Davao City appointed by the mayor.

In addition, the DIAA must have seven other members from the private sector: two representatives from Davao City, and one each for Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Occidental, Davao de Oro, and Davao Oriental. The mayor of Davao and governors of the mentioned provinces are tasked to nominate the representatives, who shall serve one-year terms.

But Obcena said the "private sector representatives have yet to be appointed."

"One of the greatest challenges we have right now is the availability of the authorized personnel that would work on behalf of DIAA," he added.

Obcena said that there is a pending P121-million approved budget for DIAA, yet "it needs requisites" from the national government to be downloaded.

Al-ag reveled to his colleagues in the city council that the DIA, under CAAP-Davao, had remitted P687 million worth of terminal fees to the CAAP central office in 2019.

"I am informing the body that that is the potential revenue of the airport, more than P600 million, that we can get and we can use to improve the airport," Al-ag said.

Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre, chair of the committee on tourism and beautification who co-sponsored Al-ag's resolution, told reporters that it is a must for the government to see the resolution as urgent "as the airport has no funds enough" to fix problems there.

Among the issues at the airport, he said, are the unavailability of senior citizen priority lanes, transgender women discrimination forcing them to use men's comfort rooms, lack of water supply in toilets, lack of pushcarts, lack of seats for waiting passengers, lack of airconditioning units, and taxicab drivers overcharging passengers.

The city councilor added that if pushed through, full transition of the management from CAAP to DIAA should be completed in December 2024. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)