Immediate completion of Southern Leyte airport dev't pushed

TACLOBAN CITY, March 10 (PNA) -- Local officials in Southern Leyte reiterated their call to improve the Panan-awan Airport in Maasin City to accommodate commercial flights and expand the area’s tourism prospects.

The airport remains non-functional two years after the Eastern Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) endorsed the improvement project for funding by the transportation department, said Southern Leyte provincial planning and development officer Ida Sy Monzon.

Monzon said the government needs to invest on extending the airport runway from the current 1.3 kilometers to 1.8 kilometers for commercial operations.

“We want the airport to be developed not just for Fokker planes, but for commercial flights to make operations sustainable. The market are not just Southern Leyte passengers but from southwest part of Leyte province as well,” Monzon said.

Maasin, located 176 kilometers south of Tacloban City, is the provincial capital. The fourth class city is the birthplace of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“We are too far away from Tacloban. People have to travel three to four hours to get to the nearest airport especially when it’s hard to get to Cebu during weather disturbances,” Maasin Mayor Nacional Mercado said.

On Thursday, the RDC infrastructure committee endorsed the immediate completion of the airport to RDC fill council. 

After the approval, the project will be endorsed to the National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Transport (DOTr), and Office of the President.

In the past three years, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has been constructing the terminal building. The project is about 85 percent complete as of this week.

The local government said the Maasin airport could serve as an alternate logistics hub for the Eastern Visayas Region, especially in the aftermath of natural disasters.

The Panan-awan Airport is currently being used for pilot training using Cessna single engine planes. 

These small aircraft are also sometimes contracted to carry tourists from Tacloban and Cebu.

Among the tourist destinations in Southern Leyte are white sand beaches, dive sites, Magellan’s Cross, and various pilgrimage sites.(PNA)
LDV/SQM