Del Mar files bill renaming MCIA
Cebu City North District Rep. Raul del Mar has filed a bill seeking to rename the MactanCebu International Airport (MCIA) to Lapu-Lapu-Cebu International Airport (LLCIA) in honor of the great Cebuano hero.
Del Mar said the House of Representatives received his proposed House Bill 8170 seeking to amend the Republic Act No. 6958 or the "Charter of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority."
“To honor Lapu-Lapu and be consistent with the city's name and location of its airport, the change of the airport name from Mactan to Lapu-Lapu and the corresponding change in the name of the authority will serve two purposes: give Lapu-Lapu the recognition that the outstanding Filipino deserved, and in the same thrust, improve the choice of name,” reads an excerpt of the explanatory note of the proposed bill.
The bill also seeks to replace the name of Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) to Lapu-Lapu-Cebu International Airport Authority (LLCIAA). The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) earlier floated the idea of renaming the airport. Del Mar, however, said that Cebu should be retained in the name of the airport.
“It is prudent and beneficial to keep the name ‘Cebu' in the airport name and the name of the authority that manages it,” he said, adding that retaining the word Cebu is essential for branding and marketing as locator of the airport and destination of the tourists.
While saying that Cebu's name has a crucial function, del Mar added that it is “better known in the world historically, economically and culturally.” Del Mar also authored Republic Act 6958 creating the MCIAA in 1990 to undertake the economical, efficient and effective control, management and supervision of the airport. MCIAA is located in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
“The city was named after the native chieftain Lapu-Lapu who is regarded as the country's first hero who repelled the Spanish invader Ferdinand Magellan,” del Mar said.
While he supports incorporating Lapu-Lapu in the new name of the airport, del Mar said Cebu should be retained. It was in July when President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11040 declaring April 27 as a national holiday for Lapu-Lapu Day or Adlaw ni Lapu-Lapu. NHCP chairman Rene Escalante subsequently floated the idea to “immortalize and popularize” Lapu-Lapu in the country and around the world by incorporating his name to the airport.