Fortunately there’s CIA. Fortunately there’s Cauguiran.

No we are not talking about the United States’Central Intelligence Agency here, the one that President Rodrigo Duterte accused of wanting him dead. Its the Clark International Airport instead, the one with international IATA (International Air Transport Association) code: CRK.

Just before midnight of August 16, 2018, amid a downpour, Xiamen Air Flight MF8667 skidded off the runway at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), with one engine and a wheel ripped off before finally taking a halt at a muddy field.

The Boeing 737-800 from China’s coastal city of Xiamen at first failed to land apparently due to poor visibility that may have hindered the pilots’view of the runway. In its second attempt to land, it seemed to have bounced on the runway during a hard landing, damaging one of its landing gears and tearing off one engine.

The problem has just started at the NAIA runway as authorities have to immediately evacuate passengers and crew of the ill-fated aircarft, investigate the cause of the accident, remove any debris that might affect other aircrafts and remove from the site the said disabled airplane.

With the gargantuan tasks, other flights from arriving and departing airlines were delayed from their schedule and in such cases, there is CIA.

For quite a number of times, the CIA has been the host to a number of diverted airplanes that cannot land at NAIA and to some thousands of passengers who cannot leave the primary international airport in Metro Manila. When there is serious air traffic congestion, an obstruction on the runway, a damage to NAIA’s navigation and landing instruments and inclement weather among others, flights are authomatically diverted to the CIA.

The CIA and the men and women behind its operations are not selfish. In fact, they are very hospitable in taking care of diverted flights, even if they are not emergency landings for airlines having trouble while airborne but are simply diverted for some other reasons.

On its capability aspect, the CIA is very much capable of accommodating airplanes of various sizes and models. In fact, there are airplanes which are too large for NAIA that can land at the CIA because of the latter’s bigger runway. There are likewise ever ready emergency crew including well-trained firefighters, paramedics and other technical personnel who can handle emergency landing situations of airlines.

Fortunately there is Clark, specifically the CIA, a very capable airport that is near and very accessible Metro Manila and can handle various emergency situations involving aircrafts. Fortunately for CIA too that it has Alexander Sangalang Cauguiran, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Clark

AS Congress approves House Bill 7735, or the Rice Tariffication Bill, on third and final hearing, we express our strong indignation as it will not address the root cause of continuous food insecurity, rice shortage and worsening poverty in the country. The bill is systematically, mechanically and logically favorable to domestic and international rice cartel operators. It will further exploit already exploited Filipino farmers and fishermen by forcing them to produce big bulk of rice, meat and fish to meet global dictum and for exportation, which are all within the mechanism of HB 7735.

House Bill 7735 intends to put safety nets for Filipino rice producers by imposing tariffs in lieu of quantitative restrictions on rice imports, including fish and meat. It was pursued in line with President Duterte’s order to the Congress last July 23 to immediately pass the measure, which targets to arrest inflation by at least 1 % thus, minimally affecting the reduction of commodity prices. Though the bill mandates the National Food Authority as the sole authority