Photo courtesy of Mactan Cebu International Airport
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu 3rd District Representative Pablo John Garcia expressed opposition to proposals renaming the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
“With due respect to the authors of the bills under consideration, whom I hold in the highest esteem, I must manifest my opposition to the proposals to rename Mactan Cebu International Airport,” said Garcia.
During the hearing conducted by the Committee on Transportation of the lower chamber of Congress on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, Garcia cited several reasons behind his opposition on bills seeking to change MCIA’s name.
For one, he pointed out that ‘there is no compelling reason to change the name’ of MCIA, adding that its present name ‘is not objectionable’.
The lawmaker also said changing MCIA’s name would repeal not only history but also its name and brand recognition, and that doing so would mean using more resources that could have been better used elsewhere.
“Should we really be doing that now, as our economy struggles to recover in this pandemic, and we see the region relying upon tourism as a key economic driver? Do we spend millions again marketing a new name and brand, when these resources could be better put to use elsewhere in our recovery?” said Garcia.
Several bills were filed before the House of Representatives aimed at changing MCIA’s name.
These included those penned by Lapu-Lapu City Representative Paz Radaza, proposing to rename it to Lapu-Lapu International Airport, and by the late Cebu City 1st District Representative Raul del Mar to change it to Lapu-Lapu Cebu International Airport.
Albeit lodged separately, both Radaza and del Mar’s proposals were intended to give honor to Lapulapu.
But for Garcia, if renaming the airport is aimed at giving honor to the country’s first hero, there is ‘no compelling need to rename the airport’.
“I believe that the supreme recognition had already been given our first national hero when the town of Opon was named Lapu-Lapu City in 1961. There is no higher recognition than that, naming a premier and first-class city after you,” he explained.
“Besides, the name Mactan is inextricably linked with the heroism of Lapulapu so that there is really no compelling need for the renaming,” he added.
The legislator also pointed out that public consultation should be held among all stakeholders involved in MCIA’s development and operations – from members of Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) located right beside MCIA, players, and regulators of the tourism industry in the Visayas, to constituents of the entire Cebu island – before the bill could make any progress.
“The name of the country’s second busiest airport should not be changed without consulting the people, the organizations, the sectors that not only have a stake in the airport but also contribute, daily, by their patronage of the airport, to Mactan Cebu International Airport’s viability and future,” Garcia said.
“We should hear from the millions of people of the City of Cebu, and the 44 municipalities and 6 component cities of the Province of Cebu, who, after all, co-own the airport with the people of Lapu-Lapu City, whether the airport, which they have historically, consistently and endearingly called “Mactan”, should be changed at all; and whether we should change it now, as we struggle to pick up the broken pieces of our lives and livelihoods without knowing when this pandemic will end,” he added.
/bmjo