For The Record
Bong Bue, former president of Zamboanga Press Club

Zambo airport deserves facelift

Is the AFP accepting gays in the Army? Find the answer elsewhere in this corner.
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Headline: “Msgr Cris: Zambo worth risking, dying for.”

I remember a similar line was made in the past by the late Senator Ninoy Aquino and it really came to pass. I hope and pray that any curse in that line would be cut. It’s much better to have a living servant than a dead one.

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Headline: “New US church leader says homosexuality is no sin.”

Well, that’s according to Episcopal Church Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori of the Diocese of Nevada. “Homosexuals were created by God to love people of the same gender,” the Bishop continued.

My Gosh! The Bishop must have a new version of the Book of Genesis. If we are to believe him, so it’s not only Adam and Eve who were created… there must be another … a Shukla? Nowadays, let’s be careful as there are a lot of false teachings. Ask God for a better discernment of things.

The Bible speaks of many prohibitions about homosexuality one of them can be found in Leviticus 18:22, which reads “No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that.”

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And speaking of homosexuals: There is this joke that the AFP is now accepting gays in the Army. A gay went to apply. The recruiting officer asked him a few questions. “Can you kill a man?” he asked. The gay said: “Yes, but it will take weeks and weeks."

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Headline: “PNP plane’s tire blows up: 3 safe”

Upon reading the headline I was a bit confused as to how could airplanes have flat tires in the air. But the story cleared the confusion that the flat-tire occurred at the airport’s runway in Zamboanga City similar to that one caused on a commercial airline last summer.

For The Record grew up in the nearby Barangay of Canelar and our place is just a stone-throw distance from the runway of the airport. When we were kids we used to play nearby the airport’s asphalted runway. There was no concrete wall yet at that time. I remember the fences were made of barbwires and other indigenous materials.

We are telling you this because we confirm that we have such an antiquated airport’s runway that has only been asphalted over and over again for decades now. We built the airport’s new terminal building but we did not include the other parts of the air facility. And come to think about it: the airport is our gateway for investors, visitors and what have you.

I was told that even the American aircraft could hardly maneuver in our so limited airport’s spaces. Maybe because that airport was designed only for the BAC 111 planes of the Philippine Airlines before or the Nomad aircraft of the PNP, Navy and Air Force.

A couple of years ago a US Chinook Helicopter blew up the roof of a PAF outpost built against the EAAB wall because there was limited space for big aircraft to maneuver. Again, maybe our airport is designed only not anything bigger than the Huey helicopters.

As to the idea of transferring the airport to Mercedes --- well, that remains to be just a dream and we can continue on dreaming on that for as long as we want as we don’t see any concrete move to have it realized. Some of those who bought properties in Mercedes ( to anticipate the airport’s transfer there) may have over anticipated it.

Anyway, the existing Zamboanga City International Airport can still serve La Bella and so let’s contend with what we have for the moment. But surely it needs a facelift particularly the runway and its other facilities.

Zamboanguenos should be glad that Congressman Erbie Fabian personally met President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over this matter. And thank God a positive response came out from that meeting of Fabian and PGMA. On the other hand, the City Government of Zamboanga headed by Mayor Celso Lobregat can complement with whatever resources or moves it can make.

If our airport’s facelifting is realized, then it would not only be Air Transportation Office Manager Celso Bayabos who will be happy --- the entire Zamboanga City people will have to rejoice.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: “Good fathers not only tell us how to live --- they show us.”