Cotabato Airport’s reopening schedule uncertain

COTABATO CITY - Stakeholders have to wait for nine more weeks for a private contractor to finish the repair of the Cotabato Airport runway that traders want reopened for Central Mindanao's economy to bounce back from the adverse effects of its closure since early July.

The airport was supposed to resume its operation by August 18, as what had circulated on social media and as announced by different radio stations here.

Members of the Bangsamoro parliament, among them the lawyer Paisalin Pangandaman Tago, who is at the helm of the region’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications, inspected the airport last Tuesday and were disappointed with the slow repair of its runway by a private contractor, the Gemma Construction Company, based in Koronadal City in South Cotabato.

In a dialogue Tuesday, parliament members Nabil Alfad Tan, Baintan Adil Ampatuan, who is a civil engineer, Rasol Yap Mitmug, Jr. and Tago took turns urging representatives of the firm to work faster in fixing the runway from wear and tear as a result of longtime use by airline companies.

The regional government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has no direct participation in the repair of the Cotabato runway, which is an initiative of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the private firm contracted for the engineering works.

The CAAP is one of several agencies operating in the autonomous region whose functions and powers are not devolved to the BARMM regional government.

“We are urging the contractor of this runway repair to work faster. This airport should be opened soon,” Tago told reporters after their brainstorming session with the engineer of the construction firm and CAAP personnel overseeing the operation of the Cotabato Airport and representatives of the MOTC-BARMM. 

Tago and companions in the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament had found out that the airport could only possibly be opened again after about 45 days, starting Tuesday, based on their projections.

Harold Dimacisil Torres, chairman of the Bangsamoro Business Council, said Wednesday they are wishing for the resumption of commercial flights connecting the city to other parts of Mindanao, Visayas and Metro Manila for the Central Mindanao's economy to bounce back from the adverse effect of the Cotabato Airport.

Cotabato Airport Manager Johari Luciano Musa, who is under the Bangsamoro Airport Authority, told reporters present in their meeting with BARMM officials that they will do their best to have the airport runway repair works done sooner than expected.