Amendment to MCIAA charter to give Lapu-Lapu board seat

CEBU, Philippines - Another Cebuano congressman is pushing to amend the Charter of Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority to allow the host city a represen-tation in the board.

Lapu-Lapu City Lone District Representative Aileen Radaza filed House Bill 4105 on October 13 seeking to amend Republic Act 6958 or the MCIAA Charter to give her city proper representation in the MCIAA Board.

Lapu-Lapu City does not have any representation at present in the board that governs the airport.

Cebu City North District Representative Raul del Mar also pushed to amend MCIAA Charter through House Bill 687. However, Radaza finds Del Mar's bill to be vague because it does not specify the city of Lapu-Lapu among those that are entitled representation in the board.

Jay Arce, Radaza's chief of staff, said they supported Del Mar bill but they find it necessary to be specific.

Del Mar's bill requires that "all the appointed directors and officers of MCIAA must have been a resident of the cities of Cebu or province of Cebu for at least three years preceding the day of their appointment."

"So it was very vague. That is the reason why even before the scheduled committee meeting, we already filed the bill only to include that specific portion that the board should have representative coming from Lapu-Lapu, most specifically the mayor and her representative," Arce said.

Radaza seeks to amend Section 6 of R.A. 6958 otherwise known as the Charter of Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority by providing Lapu-Lapu City proper representation in the MCIAA Board of Directors.

Mayor Paz Radaza, the congresswoman's mother, said Del Mar's version could be misinterpreted because Lapu-Lapu City, being a highly urbanized city and a lone district, is no longer a component city of Cebu Province.

"Lapu-Lapu is already a lone district and is not already a part of the province of Cebu or the cities of Cebu. We just want to be specific in our representation," the mayor said.

The mayor said the city has been longing for a seat in the MCIAA board as the operations of the airport is within the city. With the inclusion of the city in the board, the mayor said that concerns of both parties will be easily addressed.

Arce said that during the opening statement of Del Mar in the house committee meeting last October 18, the latter mentioned the inclusion of the mayor of Lapu-Lapu City and her representative for the two seats in MCIAA board.

"It was a good thing because right then and there, we already saw that there is an agreement between our bill and the amended version filed by Representative del Mar," he said. (FREEMAN)