Concerned environmental groups urged the Arroyo administration and Congress to stop immediately the P2.5-billion international airport in Caticlan, Aklan, the airport servicing the popular resort island of Boracay.

The upgrading of the airport is a State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) priority of President Arroyo and being pushed by Bacolod Rep. Monico O. Puentevella.

In his resolution, Puentevella, House Committee chairman on transportation, said that there is a need to lengthen the existing runway by leveling the hill on the eastern side of the existing Caticlan Airport aerodome.

However, environmentalists and stakeholders from the Boracay Foundation, Inc. and the Boracay Chamber of Commerce said that concerned government agencies are pushing for the project without the necessary environmental clearance certificates (ECC) from the Departmentt of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). They allege that the project proponents reportedly used the old ECC of the existing airport to fast-track the controversial project.

They claim that the old ECC of 2006 does not even mention anything about leveling the hill. They further argue that a sprawling mangrove will be killed as the neighboring Lupo-Lupo Lake will be filled with the earth from the leveled hill. The lake is a natural catchment for water coming down from the hill and covering it up will cause runoff water to spill into the sea and cause environmental damage to corals and even the white beaches of Boracay due to siltation and will also cause flooding of the airport complex itself and the surrounding communities.

Environmentalists also learned that the present Caticlan Airport is in a particularly vulnerable site. It is adjacent to a major fault and is underlain by loose non-consolidated sediments. Expanding or upgrading it has immitigable disaster potential because high seismicity is a great threat due to high vulnerability to subsidence and liquefaction from earthquakes.

They also cite the International Air Travel Authority (IATA) ban for traffic safety versus locating international airports within 60 nautical miles of each other.

Gov. Carlito Marquez of Aklan, on the other hand, claims it will derail Kalibo’s tourism growth corridor hence result in province-wide social, economic, and political chaos. Caticlan’s proximity to Boracay will entice major air carriers to land there and eventually render the existing Kalibo international airport useless.

The present airport in Kalibo is more strategically located because it encourages development of outlying areas for tourism purposes and benefits more towns of Aklan province.
On the other hand, BFI officials led by Otik Makavinta said the proposed international airport is unnecessary since it’s so close to Kalibo Airport, which has more space to accommodate larger aircraft like A330.

BFI president Loubelle Cann wanted public consultations with concerned officials and Caticlan residents first before work commences. The Arroyo administration announced that the project would be finished by 2010.

Meanwhile, BFI chairman Henry Chusuey was more concerned about ensuring that air traffic and the arrival of tourists won’t be hampered by a closure of the airport due to the upgrade project.

The environmental groups added that the people of Aklan are still reeling from the effects of the flashflood which hit Kalibo last year, saying it was unprecedented and that it should serve as a lesson not only to government but also private business that we should always be guided by sustainable development over profit-driven motives.