Gordon assails SBMA for airport conversion plan

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Former Sen. Richard Gordon has expressed outrage over the plan of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to convert its international airport into a tourism complex to help the free port settle some of its debts. In a statement sent to the IN

Gordon said SBMA Chair Roberto Garcia was mistaken for wanting to shut down the airport. He said Garcia should not “give way to a grandiose scheme to convert the 200-hectare prime real estate into a theme park with condominiums, malls and recreational facilities in order to save SBMA from bankruptcy.”

Reacting to Gordon’s remarks, Garcia said, “I respect the opinion of former Senator Gordon.”

Earlier, Garcia described the airport as a “cash drain” for the SBMA, but declined to refute Gordon’s assertions.

The Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) was home to courier giant Federal Express (FedEx) until 2008 when the company relocated to China.

According to Garcia, the airport complex has been underutilized, causing its income to drop from P255.2 million in 2005 to P36.6 million in 2011, and netting, after debt servic- ing, an average loss of P150 million since 2010.

Also reinforcing plans to convert SBIA is the Clark International Airport at the Clark Freeport, which is a 40-minute drive from the Subic Bay Freeport via the Subic-ClarkTarlac Expressway, Garcia said.

“It’s nice to have an airport, but Subic is going bankrupt. That’s a major asset, but it’s not being used,” he said.

The conversion plan consists of building convention centers, business process outsourcing parks, a science and technology center, casinos, theme parks, a golf course and luxury villas, among other facilities.

But Gordon, founding SBMA chair, said improving Subic Freeport without abandoning its airport was “a challenge to his (Garcia’s) managerial capabilities.”

According to Gordon, it took $40 million to rebuild and modernize the SBIA. He said the airport “is vital to Subic if the government wants to transform [the free port] into another Hong Kong or Singapore.”

He also dismissed Garcia’s observation in an early interview that the free port has few land areas left to develop.

Gordon said the Subic Spe- cial Economic Zone spans areas in Olongapo City, and the towns of Subic, Castillejos and San Marcelino in Zambales, and Morong, Hermosa and Dinalupihan in Bataan. He said these areas may host Garcia’s proposed tourism estate.

“New York and San Francisco have many airports and Palawan needs to have an additional airport. All tourist destinations in the country need an airport to draw tourists. Yet here is Subic, a popular tourist haven with an airport already in place but you want to remove that asset?” Gordon said.