TACLOBAN CITY- The plan to transfer the flights at the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport to Clark International Airport (CRK) was met with strong oppositions by officials and residents alike of this city.
The move will not only add up to hour of travel but would mean additional cost to the travellers, they said.
After Transportation Sec. Arthur Tugade announced on Wednesday (August 10) this plan, netizens from this city and other parts of the region registered their strong opposition by coming up the “#notoclarktransfer” in social media.
The Tacloban city council, meantime, will file a resolution addressed to the Department of Transportations (DoTr) to reconsider its proposal, Vice Mayor Jerry “Sambo” Yaokasin said.
Yaokasin said that if this plan will push through, disadvantages are aplenty than the anticipated advantages.
“If this happens, our city and the whole Eastern Visayas will experience a hemorrhage, both our tourism and economy will be adversely affected especially that we are just recovering from the devastation caused by supertyphoon Yolanda,” the vice mayor said.
He added that travellers coming from Tacloban using the DZR Airport will be inconvenienced aside from incurring more expenses.
Sec. Tugade said that the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), which approves the air routes of carriers, had already approved the change.
Businessman Oliver Cam, on his post on twitter, said that the change could displace travellers from Tacloban.
“This will effectively kill our tourism, not to mention the fact that this will be added cost, travel time and hassle!” he said.
Glaiza Mae Seno using her twitter handle @glaglaseno asked why Tacloban was single out in particular on this proposed transfer.
“We’ve been trying to improve our tourism, this would kill it,” she said.
At present, all flights from the DZR Airport lands at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City while the CRK is located in Mabalacat City, Pampanga. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
