The inaugural Cotabato – Tawi-Tawi flight touched down at the Sanga-Sanga Airport here at 8:51 a.m. Thursday, welcomed by a water salute and locals optimistic of the economic and tourism opportunities the twice weekly flight will bring to this island-province.
Philippine Airlines flight PR 2487 took off from the Awang Airport in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, also known as Cotabato Airport, at 7:53 a.m.
Before the A-320 commercial plane could taxi, Bangsamoro Interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim addressed the passengers, with others who are not familiar with his voice mistaking him as the pilot.
“[This flight] signals [the end] of the long-time challenge of connectivity of Tawi-Tawi with the (Bangsamoro) mainland and other parts of the country,” he said over the plane’s public address system.
“I wish you a pleasant and a blessed flight,” he added.
The historic inaugural flight from the Cotabato Airport to the Sanga-Sanga Airport came three years after the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in January 2019.
The BARMM was established following the ratification of Republic Act 11054, popularly known as the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
The BOL is anchored on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.
Rabbi Vincent Ang, PAL Express officer-in-charge, noted that the country’s flag carrier is proud to be a part of this momentous event in the chapter of the Bangsamoro region.
“This is a testament of what the people of this region is capable of. This is not a flight that was made possible by Philippine Airlines,” he said.
“The people of this region made this flight possible. The leaders of this region made this flight possible,” he added.
Ebrahim said the air route between Cotabato City, the seat of government of the Bangsamoro region, and Tawi-Tawi would make travel between the two areas less expensive and not anymore laborious.
The Moro leader noted that to fly before to Tawi-Tawi, people from Cotabato travel a circuitous trip to Manila, Zamboanga and then to this island-province, or to Kuala Lumpur, then to Sandakan and Lahad Datu in Malaysia, then a boat trip to reach Tawi-Tawi.
“Matagal na natin pinapangarap na meron tayong flight from Cotabato going direct to Tawi-Tawi,” Ebrahim told the launching program at the Awang Airport.
Minister Dickson Hermoso of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, who led the efforts of the Bangsamoro government to convince PAL to service the route, said they are hoping that the frequency of flights will increase in the future due to demand from tourists, travellers and businessmen.
“Hopefully this flight is the start of connectivity which is being longed for by our people,” he said. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
