Environment advocate and Senator Loren Legarda expressed alarm on the design of the developer of the Caticlan airport in Aklan, who intend to level the hill in the area to make way for an extension of the runway.
Legarda also asked the Arroyo administration to scrap the P2.5- billion airport expansion, saying “the environment should not be sacrificed in the name of progress and other economic gains.”
Legarda said a “micro-climatic change” due to leveling of the hill was very alarming as it will adversely impact on the forests, wetland and water quality.
“I am particularly concerned about the environmental disasters that our experts from Mines and Geosciences Bureau warn about if the Caticlan airport project pushes through,” the senator, who is running for vice president, pointed out.
Officials of the mines bureau earlier revealed that the disaster would lead to “micro-climatic change” or disappearance of the entire white beaches around Caticlan and Boracay reportedly within 20 years.
Dr. Ric Javelosa, a morphologist of the bureau, explained that the location of the Caticlan airport was not fit for upgrading due to high potentiality to local tsunami and highly subject to variable ground shaking.
On the climate change issue, Boracay island has excellent micro-climatic conditions which are responsible for the formation and replenishment of its world- renowned powdery white sand, Javelosa said.
But Aklan Rep. Joven Miraflores and director Edwin Trompeta, regional head of the Tourism Department of Tourism, insisted that their present priority was to chop off a portion of the hill so that the entire length of the runway could be fully used by airplanes landing and taking off in Caticlan.
The Caticlan International Airport Development Corp. is the main proponent of the P2.5- billion project of the Arroyo administration. Under the plan, the runway will be extended from 825 meters to 2.1 kilometers to meet the international airport standard and accommodate big aircraft. It is expected to be operational by June 2010.
The process was right to oppose the current plan for Caticlan. Not only will it ruin our tourist destination- Boracay but also it will put our environment into harm. Why do we have to make our environment suffer just to give ease to us, human. There are still other options than this, something that can be beneficial not only to us, people but also it won't but our environment in danger as well.
It seems like we, human have hungered too much for relief that we selfishly want to take everything provided by nature for us. Maybe, if we can't payback for Mother Earth at least we can somehow, prevent the deterioration of our environmental status.
If I am to be asked, I'll go with this urge and stop it. No matter how much comfort can it give me to travel Philippines, we already had enough for a change and enough for our demand.
