Commercial flights to Guiuan expected

 By Vicente Labro
Inquirer Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY – The opening of an airport in historic Guiuan town in Eastern Samar, to commercial flights and the completion of other infrastructure projects will attract more tourists and investors on Calicoan Island, officials said.

Guiuan Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan said commercial flights would start next month after the completion of the P155-million Guiuan Airport Development Project.

In an interview on Sunday, Kwan said that she had talked with Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air officials about her request for flights to and from Guiuan.

Cebu Pacific promised to start flights in November, she said, while the PAL manager in Tacloban had “endorsed favorably” the plan to the airline’s head offices in Manila.

The project included a new apron and taxiway, a passenger terminal building, a fire department building and perimeter fence, as well as the installation of a single-phase electrical line and asphalt overlay of the runway, Kwan said.

The mayor also disclosed that the P38-million water system project in Calicoan Island had already been completed. “In the past, many investors in Calicoan had backed out because of lack of potable water,” she said.

Potable water will be supplied to seven of the town’s villages, including four in Calicoan – Pagnamitan, Baras, Ngolos, and Sulangan.

Kwan said two major telecommunication companies had also put up towers in Calicoan, allowing people to use their cellular phones.

Guiuan has a big tourism potential because of its natural wonders and rich heritage, said Presidential Assistant for Eastern Visayas Cynthia Nierras, who was in Guiuan to attend the inauguration of the town’s Tourism Information and Pasalubong Center on Saturday.

Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing under the flag of Spain, first set foot on Philippine soil in Homonhon Island, which is a part of Guiuan, on March 16, 1521.