MAKATI CITY - Cebu needs to privatize the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, build a third bridge and a light rail from the airport all the way to Lahug to become a regional center, said Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. chairman Manuel Pangilinan in an interview yesterday.
“Cebu has traditionally been a trading hub, commercial hub for Visayans, you should convert that to a bigger hub for other things. And I think the Cebuanos have that wonderful trait of being business-minded, creative and so forth,” he said in an interview with journalists, “Kaya lang kuripot. Correct ba (Except they’re stingy. Am I correct)?”
Clarification
Pangilinan said he is interested in investing in Cebu and talked about the possibility during a talk with Gov. Gwen Garcia during a Philippine Basketball Association Game last month.
He said he wanted to invest in new water generation and distribution projects not only in Cebu City but also in other major cities in the province.
Pangilinan clarified that he did not talk politics with Governor Garcia.
“No, we met at the lounge before the game. That was the first time I met her. Of course I’ve heard of her, she’s a famous national personality. I’ve heard about her, she must have been a capable government executive,” he said, “And we chatted. No politics, to be fair to her. I’m not an expert in politics. I don’t want to delve into something I don’t know much about.”
Suggestions
“We talked about possible investments in Cebu,” he said.
“If you could privatize the Mactan airport, build a third bridge and build a light rail all the way to Lahug. Then you bypass a lot of these small roads in Lapu-Lapu,” he said in a press conference after yesterday’s PLDT stockholders’ meeting.
Pangilinan said Cebu has to build a better airport because it is “like the old NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) runway.”
“When you land and take off, you shake, rattle and roll,” he said.
Pangilinan said Mactan Island needs a master plan and suggests replicating what Phuket did in Thailand.
“Then you can develop an ecosystem of restaurants, hotels, markets and entertainment.
Mactan has a better potential. Ang problema sa Mactan pagdating ng gabi, wala kang mapupuntahan, di ba (The problem with Mactan it doesn’t have a nightlife)?” he said.
He said Cebu can be a regional hub for international traffic.
“If people land in Cebu, I should offer facilities to move you to Boracay and argue I am closer to Boracay than Manila, I am closer to Bohol than Manila is to Bohol, I am closer to Palawan than Manila is to Palawan,” he said.
“You guys are wonderful. You’ve done a wonderful job of being the commercial center for Visayas and Northern Mindanao. Why can’t you think of it that way? You’re closer to Boracay than Manila is. So open a new airport,” he said.
“You should sell Cebu,” he added.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on June 15, 2012.
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