The provincial government of Cotabato is accelerating the construction of the Central Mindanao Airport (CMA) in the municipality of M’lang, Cotabato Province.
In their inaugural speeches last Monday, Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza, Vice Governor Rochella Marie “Ella” T. Taray, and Third District Representative Ma. Alana Samantha T. Santos underscored that when fully operational, the airport will open up a huge opportunity in the province, specially in the fields of tourism, economy, agriculture, and commerce.
Mendoza bared that a P450 million allocation from the Department of Transpprtation (DoTr) and TUCP partylist through the initiative of Santos was made available for asphalt overlay and runway strip grading, which are being eyed to be completed this year.
“Patuloy nating isusulong ang Central Mindanao Airport. Ngunit kailangan pa natin ang tuloy tuloy na suporta upang maisakatuparan ang full implementation,” Mendoza said.
The governor stated that the airport will proceed despite a reduction in funding for Fiscal Year 2025 from P715 million to P100 million.
Mendoza reported that from 2016-2023, the funds earmarked for the airport reached P314 million, and P450 million for 2024.
“Magsusumikap tayong maisakatuparan ang expansion for jet operations at matuloy ang second access road sa Brgy. New Rizal, M’lang bilang karugtong ng 4.109 kilometer access road,” she said.
Mendoza said the construction of the 4.109 km access road to the airport in Brgy. Langkong in is almost completed, while the 4.10 km in Brgy New Rizal has been completed.
“This milestone brings us closer to fulfilling the long-held dream of making the old airport operational,” Santos said.
Meanwhile, Taray said for the coming years, the provincial government will focus on making Cotabato a prime investment hub in Mindanao.
“In support of the ongoing operationalization of Cotabato Agro-Industrial Park (CAIP), together with the eventual completion of CMA, which are both priority programs of “Serbisyong Totoo” will open our province for business and to the world,” the vice governor said.
The CAIP is being positioned to cater to the processing of high-value crops and provide services and facilities that will generate added value to other commodities produced locally.
