President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (Noel Pabalate/MANILA BULLETIN)

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte is confident that President Marcos' "Build, Better, More" program will jumpstart major infrastructure projects in Bicol that were promised by past administrations but ultimately went nowhere. 

Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party (NUP), mentioned in particular the the expansion of the Naga Airport and the speedy completion of flood control projects at the Bicol River Basin (BRB). 

“We are optimistic that vital public works  that have not seen the light of day despite being declared as priority projects in past administrations will finally get going under the Marcos presidency, following the President’s directive in his recent—and third—official visit to CamSur on putting them on the front burner this time around,” Villafuerte, said. 

President Marcos, during his recent trip to the province to lead the distribution of land titles to nearly 2,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) all over Bicol, announced the start of the new Naga Airport Development Project and ordered the completion of the remaining flood control projects at the BRB. 

Villafuerte, a former provincial governor, also expressed hope that the President’s infrastructure build-up in Bicol would lead to the implementation of one flagship project that was shelved during the past government--the proposed “Bicol Express” railway system that will run from the national capital to Albay or Sorsogon.  

“We thank the President for giving priority to the improvement of the Naga Airport and the completion of BRB flood control projects as part of his infrastructure build-up program,” Villafuerte said. 

“I remain hopeful that this infra modernization initiative will lead, too, to the implementation of the ‘Bicol Express’ train line that was unfortunately put on hold in the previous Administration,” he noted. 

Build, Better, More supplanted the previous administration's infrastructure development program upon Marcos' ascension to the Palace seat in 2022. 

Villafuerte has long sought the implementation of the long-delayed expansion of the Naga Airport’s runway from the city to Camarines Sur’s provincial capital of Pili, so it can accommodate widebody jets  like the Airbus A300 that are good for international flights. 

Only small turbo-prop planes like the Bombardier Q400 can land at Naga Airport. 

He recalled that this airport project was already approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) during the presidency of the late President Benigno Aquino III, and then identified as a flagship project of the succeeding Duterte government.  

“But this infrastructure modernization plan unfortunately remained on the drawing board in both administrations,” Villafuerte noted. 

“Because the landing field of the Naga Airport is short, it could not accommodate  jets like the Airbus A300, and there is always the danger that the smaller planes using this gateway could  overshoot the runway,” he said. 

“Thus the need for the expansion of the Naga Airport up to Pili to ensure safer plane landings, increase passenger traffic  and boost local tourism, given that a much longer landing field would enable the airport to accommodate bigger commercial aircraft or jets,” added Villafuerte. 

Villafuerte earlier appealed to Malacañang to revive the defunct BRB Development Program Office (BRBDPO), which was put up a half-century ago to implement the country’s first-ever regional area development initiative that was designed to nurture and climate-proof  this over 317,000-hectare watershed in one of the country’s most disaster-prone regions. 

He cited the need for the government “to climate-proof the BRB watershed in order to mitigate the impact of future natural disasters on this flood-susceptible region in the Philippines, which is considered the world’s most disaster-prone country and one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change". 

The BRB covers 963 barangays in 50 municipalities and cities in Camarines Sur, Albay, and Camarines Norte.  

It encompasses eight sub-basins or watersheds, namely, Libmanan-Pulantana, Ragay Hills, Thiris, Naga-Yabo, Pawili River, Waras-Lalo, Naporog and Quinali—all of which are in Camarines Sur.