Blissful ignorance
“ANG PAGTATAG ng maraming negosyo na lilikha naman ng
maraming trabaho ay prayoridad ng Pangulong Aquino upang lalong mapaunlad ang
Clark (The establishment of more
businesses which will generate more jobs is a priority of President Aquino to
further develop Clark).”
So Headline Gitnang Luzon reported Presidential Communications
Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. as saying.
“President Benigno S.
Aquino lll will invite more investors to create more jobs at the Clark Freeport
Zone in Pampanga.” Read the lead of the paper’s February 3 banner “Malacañang priority, PNoy bares action plan for Clark.”
Not to be outbannered, Sun-Star Pampanga had its own quote of
Coloma, thus:
"Bibigyan po ng prayoridad ng pamahalaan ang
Clark development sa ilalim ng administrasyon ni Pangulong Aquino (The government will give priority to Clark
development under the administration of President Aquino).”
So screamed its February 3
headline: “Guiao lauds PNoy for Clark dev’t
plan.”
And gushed: “The swift response of Malacañang came just
a day after Guiao delivered his privilege speech at the House of
Representatives, where he urged the President to issue a concrete policy
statement on Clark and its airport.
The appeal was a result of the consolidated inputs of
the Clark Challenge: Stakeholders’ Summit some two weeks ago.
“We are very much elated about President Aquino
prioritizing the development of Clark. His giving attention to it is a
manifestation that he wants to leave a legacy to the region where he comes
from,” said Guiao.
Pardon, but whatever plan
both Headline Gitnang Luzon and Sun-Star Pampanga bannered is nowhere in
the body of their respective stories. Not even an adumbration of it can be
traced thereat.
An action plan – the way
we were made to understand in our Organization Development studies at the
Development Academy of the Philippines, as well as in our Certificate Course in
Public Relations at the Institiut Perhubungan Raya in Kuala Lumpur, albeit in
the 1980s yet – comprised, among others, definitively measurable activities
backed by resources and bounded by time.
So where’s the what, the
how, and the when in the reported PNoy’s action plan for Clark?
So what “swift response
from Malacanang” are we to rave about?
So Headline Gitnang Luzon reported: “Coloma disclosed that three options were submitted by the Department of
Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Secretary Emilio Joseph Abaya to
President Aquino, including a single airport system that would involve the
closure of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the development of
Clark International Airport in Pampanga; a dual airport system which would
involve the development of the Clark airport as well as the maximization of
NAIA operations until 2025 while looking for a new airport site 25 kilometers
or 30 minutes away from the existing gateway; and the dual NAIA-Clark airport
system.
Disclose is
the operative word there. Which dictionary meaning is “to make (secret or new
information) known.”
What Coloma was reported
as saying is no new information revealed in the wake of Guiao’s summit and
privilege speech. What Coloma said was recycled hogwash, stock-in-trade
government response whenever the development of Clark is raised.
From
the Philippine Star “updated October
25, 2013” and bylined Lawrence Agcaoili: DOTC
taps JICA for new airport study:
In an interview on the
sidelines of the 39th Philippine Business Conference and Expo, Transportation
Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the Aquino administration has asked JICA to
do a study on the possible replacement for NAIA...
He pointed out that the
agency has already presented two options to President Aquino as Malacañang is
inclined to adopt the dual or twin airport system than a single airport system.
The first option, he said,
is to develop Clark International Airport in Pampanga, maximize the runway and
terminal capacity of the 32-year old NAIA, and put up a new airport that would
replace the congested international gateway.
The option also involves
the closure and the sale of the existing NAIA.
On the other hand, Abaya
said the second option entails the operation of the Clark International
airport, NAIA, and the new airport.
“We are going up to the
President to get a final decision. We are now master planning Clark. We will
invest in Clark but we won’t put all our eggs in Clark but we will make sure
that we will stunt the growth in Clark. In NAIA, we will maximize runway
capacity and terminal capacity and eventually we will hit a ceiling in NAIA
either in 2018 or 2020,” he added.
And much
earlier, from inquirer.net written by
Paolo G. Montecillo and dated February 28, 2013:
The Department of Transportation
and Communications (DOTC) said different plans for Clark and its Manila
counterpart, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), would be brought up
to the Cabinet economic cluster and later to the President for approval within the month.
The choice would be between
maintaining two major airports—Clark and Naia—supporting each other, or
vacating Manila in favor of the former US military base.
Malacañang also has the option of
establishing a brand-new airport inside Metro Manila or in a nearby province
that will replace the existing Naia complex in Pasay City.
“We are finalizing plans and
bring this to the President [for a final] decision,” Transportation Secretary
Joseph Emilio Abaya said Thursday.
Abaya admitted that while there
were several options on the table, no clear favorite has emerged and it would
be up to the President to take his pick.
“Will we have one or two
gateways? Do we close down Naia in the future for some other airport? A lot of
stakeholders are waiting for these decisions,” Abaya said in a radio interview.
“What’s important is that a
decision is made soon so projects can move forward,” he added.
Nearly a year hence, what
PNoy plan, much less any decision obtained in Clark, pray tell? Almost a year since,
Coloma chirrups a recurrent refrain of Abaya’s discordant notes.
Still, Guiao enthused: “Clark
stakeholders and people of Central and North Luzon are encouraged by the
President’s move to prioritize the development of the Freeport and its airport.
It gives us a very strong assurance on the development of the Freeport and
Clark International Airport in our efforts to keep on pushing for its growth
which will benefit not only the region but the whole country as well.”
Kababo tamu kilabot. So naïve, easily pleased we are, to put it most kindly. Aye, we are
that which P.T. Barnum said is born every minute.
Bench me for this Coach,
but can’t you see this administration is taking the Clark stakeholders for a
ride on a Ferris wheel here? In the more colourful language of the alley, sinasakay tayo sa tsubibo.
And we should be grateful
for it?
Alas, that street filosofo is right: E mu tatasan ing camulalan da reng Capampangan. In straight, if
kinder, English: Never underestimate the gullibility of the Capampangan. Indeed, ignorance is bliss.
Shucks.
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