Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Wednesday, August 21 emphasized the need for the country to have a general aviation terminal to strengthen security measures for private planes coming in and out of the country.
Escudero renewed his pitch for a general aviation terminal following the reported departure of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo from the Philippines despite a standing arrest order from the Senate.
According to the Senate chief, he had already questioned the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) about the absence of such facility in previous hearings.
“It’s frustrating that we do not have a terminal for general aviation. It’s where the rich people board their private planes,” Escudero explained during a press conference at the Senate.
The Senate leader noted that people like Guo can easily leave the Philippines undetected because of the absence of a general aviation terminal.
“As long as you have money, you can easily leave the country and return,” he said adding that most of the time only the rich are doing such actions.
Escudero said he is vouching on the plan of Ramon Ang, San Miguel Corp. president and chief executive, to create one when the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) consortium takes over the country’s main gateway in a few weeks.
Ang had vowed to make improvements in NAIA after the NAIA Infra Corp.—a consortium made up of San Miguel Holdings Corp., RMM Asian Logistics Inc., RLW Aviation Development Inc., and Incheon International Airport Corp.—won and inked a P170.6-billion agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to rehabilitate and repair the country’s main gateway.
The senator said he plans to convince Ang about opening a general aviation terminal.
“That is one of my plans, to tell him and demand, for us to have a general aviation terminal in the country,” he said, adding that the consortium can transform an old airport terminal to serve as a general aviation terminal.