Radaza welcomes Del Mar proposal

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza welcomes Cebu City North District Representative Raul del Mar's move to provide a seat for the mayor of Lapu-Lapu City on the board of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA).

This provision is part of Del Mar's proposed amendment to Republic Act 6958 or 'The Charter of the MCIAA" which was approved by the Joint Committee on Government and Privatization and Transportation in the Congress under House Bill 687 last October 18.

With the inclusion of the Lapu-Lapu City mayor in the MCIAA board, Radaza believes that the airport facility and the city government can better address each other's concerns and suggestions.

"The host city is LapuLapu City. Ang MCIAA is naa man dinhi. Direct ang effect sa siyudad sa Lapu-Lapu. Of course ganahan mi [makatabang]," said Radaza who was present in Congress the other day to witness the session.

House Bill 687, which was principally authored by Del Mar, aims to increase the number of the MCIAA Board of Directors from 11 to 13 members. This increase will accommodate the mayor of Lapu-Lapu City and an additional representative from the private sector as ex-officio members.

At present, the MCIAA board is composed of the MCIAA general manager, the private sectors, the Cebu Provincial Governor, officials from the Department of Finance, Department of Justice, Department of Tourism, and Department of Transportation and Communication, and a representative from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

"Welcome kaayo nga idea. We have been long wanting [for] this seat [in MICAA board], we are very happy," she added.

Radaza has been emphasizing this concern since 2010, during her first term as mayor, saying that it is "high time" that a representative from the LapuLapu City government to be considered for the MCIAA board.

Also in 2010, she had asked her husband, then congressman and former mayor Arturo Radaza, to review the MCIAA charter so that the city could have a representative on the board.

A recent report said that the reason why the city has not been partoftheMCIAAboardwasdue totheincumbencyofformerCebu governor Lito Osmeña and the late Mayor Maximo Patalinjug.

When the MCIAA charter was created in 1990, LapuLapu was still a component city of Cebu Province. According to the report, the city was excluded from the board due to the political rivalry between Osmeña and Patalinjug.