• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A 500-hectare area inside the Central Philippines State University in Barangay Tagukon, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, is still available as a site for the regional offices of the newly created Negros Island Region, according to Mayor Benjie Miranda.
In a meeting with CPSU president Dr. Aladino Moraca, Miranda said he was told that the 500-hectare school property is still ready for occupancy, should regional offices of NIR be established in the site.
Miranda recalled that it was identified already in the previous NIR, which was created through an executive order issued by the late President Benigno Aquino III, as a possible site for regional offices.
The 500 ha. property forms part of the 4,500 ha. reservation area of CPSU in Brgy. Tagukon, Kabankalan City. It is also located at the boundary of Mabinay, Negros Oriental.
It is accessible to both Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, Miranda said, adding that the highway has already been expanded to four lanes.
In previous years, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources had proposed that CPSU donate 500 ha. of the university’s 4,500-ha. property, to be used as the NIR regional center.
Miranda said he will write a letter to Malacañang, to inform President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that there was an agreement before between CPSU management and two governors of Negros Occidental and Oriental, to use the 500 ha. school reservation area as the NIR regional center.
Should it push through, Miranda said it will be complimented by the Kabankalan Airport in Brgy. Hilamonan, which is about 23 kilometers away from the proposed NIR regional center site.
The Kabankalan City government shells out P10 million annually for the airport’s development.
At present, Kabankalan City Airport has a 1,400-meter runway. There is a proposal to extend it another 600 meters to allow planes as big as an Airbus A320 to land at the airport.
The Kabankalan City Airport needs P500 million for its completion, Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (6th district, Negros Occidental) disclosed earlier.
Stressing that the Kabankalan airport is a national government project under the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Alvarez said that they are still lobbying for its completion.*
