TACLOBAN CITY – Starting on June 1, passengers using the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport will pay P100 for terminal fee. At present, the terminal fee at the Yolanda-battered Tacloban Airport is P75 which was first imposed on July 2013. The increase of the terminal fee is in compliance to CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) Circular No.09-13, said airport manager Efren Nagrama. “The adjustment represents the second tranche of the staggered adjustment that took effect last year. We have to do this even if the airport is not yet fully operational since it is already scheduled under the 2013 circular,” Nagrama said. He also said that next year, the terminal fee will be raised again to P150. The current P75 fee has been implemented since 1997. The DZR Airport sustained severe damages due to Yolanda And up to now, the said facility has yet to repair. CAAP will post this week notice about the fee hike in strategic areas of the DZR Airport to make the public aware. Nagrama said that additional funds that will be generated from staggered hike will not be an income for CAAP, but a recovery of cost for various improvements and maintenance of airport facilities. But his move of the CAAP was met with criticisms. Oliver Cam, vice president and chief operating officer of hotel Welcome Home Leyte Holdings Inc. said the adjustment should be deferred since people are still suffering from the impacts of the super typhoon. “CAAP should consider the plight of storm survivors here in Tacloban and Region 8. The business sector will tackle this impending adjustment and will probably make a formal request for deferment,” Cam said. “We maintain our stand that there should be no adjustments unless the airport is already developed.” Cam asked the airport management to conduct a public consultation anew since people forgot about second tranche adjustment, as attention has been diverted to Yolanda’s aftermath. For passenger Evelina Juaban, the increase of the terminal fee is just timely since the facility really needs improvement after it incurred damages from storm surges generated by Yolanda last year. “I am not against any terminal fee increase as long collected money will be used for development,” said Juaban, who travels monthly to Manila to attend meetings. Currently, CAAP is restoring the badly damaged airport facilities through the P42.46 million rehabilitation project that kicked off in February. It will be completed in two months. Restoration activities concentrate on reconstruction of the damaged airport terminal building, perimeter fence, and CAAP administration office. The project is on top of the P2.1 billion Tacloban Airport full development, which will be completed in 2017. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)
