The Mactan Cebu International Airport will soon have a second runway if the bill to build one will be approved in Congress.| CDN file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The second runway for the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) may soon turn into reality with House Bill 149, an act to facilitate its construction, being approved in the House of Representatives for its third and final reading.
Cebu City North District Representative Raul Del Mar said in a statement that he was happy to announce that the bill for the MCIA’s second runway was already forwarded to the Senate on May 21 awaiting its final fate.
House Bill 149, authored by Cebu City Representative Raul del Mar, seeks to equip the proposed second runway with concomitant access taxiways and rapid exit taxiways (RET), runway lightning systems, and navigational and landing equipment.
Under the bill, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will be the main agency tasked to supervise the establishment of a second MCIA runway in Lapu-lapu City.
Del Mar previously said that the MCIA runway is expected to breach its capacity of 202,000 airport movements per year by 2024. On 2010, its recorded aircraft movements per day was at 140 and the airport had a total of 58,888 aircraft movements on 2012.
“With due consideration of the pre-investment and pre-construction activities necessary in government projects such as this, it is very important and prudent to already establish its necessity and project development process right now,” he said.
House Bill 149 mandates the DOTr to finance and conduct the feasibility studies and the formulation of the detailed engineering designs, standards, and specifications of the proposed runway.
Meanwhile, another bill authored by Del Mar, the House Bill 6916, also passed its final reading in the House and is now awaiting approval in the Senate.
House Bill 6916 is an act providing for the venue of the criminal and civil action in libel cases against a community or local journalist, publication or broadcast station.
In the bill, the civil action shall be filed in the same court where the criminal action is filed.
This is to avoid community journalists and local broadcaster having to answer charges deliberately filed against them far away from their place of business or work