Relevance. That is what Atty. Emigdio “Dino” Tanjuatco III quipped when he spoke before the workers of the Clark International Airport Corporation in his first flag raising attendance in the state-run airport.
What is the significance of Clark International Airport in the country and in the heart of Asia Pacific? To us who toiled selflessly for the development of the once listless airport – the CRK means everything. It’s the future of the country’s fledgling aviation industry that needed tweaking and no-nonsense government support.
The international gateway is the ‘Front of the House’ and any country it represents is what the citizens and leaders of that country are made of.
It has been two years since Atty. Emigdio ‘Dino’ Tanjuatco III took over as President and Chief Executive Officer of the CIAC where he made significant accomplishments for the development of the Clark International Airport.
One big accomplishment, is the return of Emirates Airlines which gave hope to lure more air carriers to fly at Clark airport. The return of Emirates is vital to the development of the airport since it will service the passengers from the Northern and Central Luzon especially the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) mostly residing in those areas. Emirates’ operation at Clark will somehow boost passenger volume that had been declining for the past two years due to the suspension of flights by other airlines.
Tanjuatco, however, made sure that he will work hard to convince Emirates to fly again at Clark and successfully negotiated with officials of Emirates during the World Routes held in the South Africa in 2015. The Emirates’ daily circular flights via Cebu-Clark-Dubai commenced last March 30, 2016.
Tanjuatco also succeeded in the negotiations with Clark Development Corporation (CDC) under the leadership of former CDC President Arthur Tugade when Nanox Philippines had been turned over under the jurisdiction of CIAC last year. Nanox Philippines is one of the top 3 Japanese firms inside Clark Freeport Zone. Tugade is now the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).> He also lobbied before NEDA-ICC and President Aquino the P15-billion New Passenger Terminal which in turn was approved by the latter. The new facility is designed to accommodate 8 to 10 million passengers annually and soon CRK will have its second Passenger Terminal. The construction of the project involves 2 phases and expected to be completed by 2022.
Tanjuatco also worked hard for the improvement of revenue collections of CIAC as well as the cancellation of several delinquent locators which failed to settle their obligations with the state-owned firm. This move is one of the programs of Tanjuatco to improve the financial conditions of CIAC since he assumed office in 2014.
Clark airport recently recorded an 8 percent increase in the passenger volume for the first four months from January to April of 2016. The CRK recorded 316,659 passengers as compared to the same period of 2015 of 292,659 passengers.
But all of these achievements do not stop there, Tanjuatco is still pushing for more talks with air carriers to mount new routes or additional flights for Clark airport. He is currently in talks with several airlines that could possibly operate at Clark Airport this year or by 2017.
These are among the accomplishments he made and more had been done for the past two years.
CIAC still needs Tanjuatco so as to have a continuity of programs and projects for the development of the airport. Tanjuatco fits the job well. With Tanjuatco at the helm of CIAC, there is a bright future for everyone as we are closer to becoming the next International Gateway of the Philippines.