STA. BARBARA-A tug-of-war is brewing over the planned construction of an airport in the province.

Governor Amado Espino Jr. is lobbying to have the airport in the town of Sta. Barbara, instead of Alaminos City, given its more strategic location.

Espino said he already told President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. about his view immediately after the President made the announcement on the project during her State of the Nation Address in July.

The governor, in a talk with media this week, pointed out that Sta. Barbara is more centrally    located   with boundaries linked to Urdaneta City and the towns of Calasiao, Mapandan, Malasiqui, Manaoag, and Mangaldan.

Just the previous week, Mayor Hernani Braganza of Alaminos City, home of the Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) in the southwestern side of the province, announced that three possible sites for the airport have already been inspected by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC).

Meanwhile, Sta. Barbara Mayor Reynaldo Velasco has also earlier submitted his proposed airport project to the DOTC and to the Office of the President.

Espino said an airport in Sta. Barbara will have a more significant economic impact for the entire Pangasinan since it can serve as an alternate airport to the one in Baguio City.

For tourism alone, Sta. Barbara’s proximity to Manaoag, popular for its Catholic Church shrine, also outweighs Alaminos’ HINP, he added.

The governor also pointed out that he would rather have private airplanes with investors coming in so that once investments pour in, more facilities will be built to cater to the needs of tourists.

Alaminos City, he added, would have be an ideal site if the Proton Wira plant in Mabini town is still operational but no longer.# 

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