The state-run Clark Development Corp. had been planning to establish the much-vaunted “Next Frontier” in the Sacobia Valley and the reports that the 600th ABW will be transferred to the deeply contested area was misleading. 600th ABW Commander Col. Francisco Cruz could only scratch his head in disbelief as the PAF chief summoned him to explain.

I came across Col. Cruz during the simple cocktail party at the Mimosa Resorts recently accorded to him and former 600th ABW Commander Col. Alejandro Camagay. Cruz said the scribe got it all wrong because they are considering Basa Air Base in Floridablanca town or Crow Valley in Tarlac and not in the CDC’s “Next Frontier.”

“I’m hoping that this is not a send-off party,” Cruz told Clark International Airport Corp. president and CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano, EVP/COO Alexander S. Cauguiran, CDC president and CEO Benny Ricafort and CIAC officials. “I hope that we can nurture the partnership that we have forged,” said Camagay. “This is going to be a partnership. Our partnership is very much stronger in Clark.”

For his part, Luciano said CIAC and PAF have “an imaginary boundary and we are going in one direction.”

More Clark entitlements

The Philippine Air Panel who went to Finland for rounds of air talk scored another monumental success for the overall development of the Clark airport as the Philippines’ future premier gateway. Both Philippine and Finland air panels reviewed the existing Air Services Agreement (ASA), the bilateral framework that identifies frequency, capacity, route, type of aircraft and volume of cargo that can be conducted in pair-countries—and made some adjustments.

During the talks held in Helsinki last September 29 to 30, 2008, the RP Air Panel headed by Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Doroteo Reyes Jr. was able to secure new entitlements for the Philippines particularly the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.

For the route Clark-Points in Finland, seven weekly frequencies had been allotted and vice-versa for a total of 14 flights per week. For the route Manila-Finland (Helsinki), four weekly frequencies had been allotted and vice-versa for a total of eight flights per week; and to the route between Points in the Philippines except Manila and Clark-Points in Finland, seven weekly frequencies had been allotted and vice-versa for a total of 14 flights per week. For cargo, 700 tons weekly capacity had been allotted for the route Clark/Subic-Finland V.V. and vice versa. Well, we need these entitlements for Clark—the more the better.