Departure area of MCIA T2 | CDN Digital Photo by Morexette Marie Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The name Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) will stay, says Cebu 3rd District Representative Pablo John Garcia.
In a statement issued to the media on Thursday, April 1, 2021, Garcia clarified that the bill seeking to rename the country’s second busiest airport will only apply to its two terminals, and not for the entire property.
“The bill merely seeks to name the domestic and international terminals of the airport to Lapulapu Domestic Terminal and Lapulapu International Terminal, while retaining the name Mactan Cebu International Airport for the entire facility itself,” said Garcia.
He also said the proposal replicates the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) model, in which its major terminal was named Tom Bradley International Terminal.
“The airport itself, which includes the land area, runway, towers, and other facilities will remain to be known as the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. The terminal building, which is part of the airport, will be renamed the Lapulapu Domestic and International Terminals,” Garcia added.
House Bill No. 8986 was approved on its third and final reading last March 25, 2021.
Garcia said it was a ‘substitute bill’ developed after House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Committee on Transportation Chairperson and Representative Edgar Sarmiento decided to formulate a compromise between lawmakers who pushed for renaming MCIA and those who opposed it.
“This substitute bill accommodates our objections to the bill while fulfilling the more important objective of honoring Lapulapu on the 500th year of the Battle of Mactan,” he explained.
It can be recalled that Garcia openly opposed renaming the entire airport in honor of Datu Lapulapu, the bill authored and lobbied by Lapu-Lapu City Representative Paz Radaza.
Other lawmakers who penned similar proposals were the late Cebu City-North District Representative Raul del Mar, and Parañaque 1st District Representative Eric Olivarez.
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/bmjo