Well, it is good to hear that the Davao International Airport had its banner performance for the month of May, 2024.
Yes, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) XI General Manager Engr. Rex Obcena the airport registered an 18 percent increase in passengers to that of the 11,000 average daily registered for the period from the first quarter of 2019 up to the same period of this year.
He said that in the last two or three weeks the Davao Airport registered an average passengers of about 13 thousand daily. We are saying it is good news as it means more people are travelling out or coming to the city. And that would also mean that many are having extra money or that business is brisk that
employees of establishments are sent out of the office to other places to attend meetings, trainings and related purpose. In other words it boils down to an increasingly vibrant economy.
The question however is, where were those who came to Davao through the international airport headed to? Were they coming to visit their ancestral homes, or were they coming to take a vacation in the rising tourist destination, the Island Garden City of Samal? Meaning those who came here last month splurged the bulk of their money in the island city, leaving perhaps a few penny to be spent in Davao City proper.
Anyhow, all those who take off or disembark at the Davao International Airport are more known to be visitors of the city and not Samal-bound passengers.
Our wish for the main Davao City gateway is that the upgrading both on the ageing runway and the shrinking terminal building space will be done and completed as scheduled. It would be a major shame if we loudly pride our airport having a major hike in passenger traffic but its many supposed amenities are far from worth the appreciation of the air travelling public.
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This one is worth looking into by Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte. Yes, the news that the mayor himself confirmed obtaining among a number of City Hall employees. That is, that in a recent random drug tests conducted last May 3 and 13, 2024 several local government employees tested positive for illegal drugs. The drug testing was personally requested by Angel Sumagaysay, head of the Public Safety and Security Office. Most of those personnel who were tested positive though, are from the Civil Security Unit (CSU)
Clearly this is a slap on the face of Mayor Baste and a clear mockery of his avowed program of ridding the city of drug-crazed individuals. Perhaps too, there is need for Mayor Baste or his City Administrator to sit down with Department heads and the top officials at the Human Resources Management Office (HRMO) to review the hiring procedures, specifically those supposed quota of recommendations by political leaders and barangay officials.
Imagine the efforts of the City Mayor to curb drug addiction and trading of the illegal merchandise in the city knowing that among the markets of illegal drugs are employees of the government whose top official is getting into some kind of controversy because of his mode of implementing an anti-illegal drugs campaign!
Personally we would recommend that those positive of the use of illegal drugs be goaded into having themselves enter a rehabilitation center. And if they do not, they should be kicked out of their job. There has to be some strict instilling of discipline in this aspect. The drug users in the city government cannot blame the public if it suspects that the former can become “termites” that will slowly gnaw the foundation of the local government and possibly lead it to collapse if nothing is done on them (the drug users).
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Our heart-felt condolence to the family of the late Fr. Amado “Picx” Picardal, CSsR, who died last May 29. We knew of the demise of the so-called “biking priest” from the article of Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ, which was published in this paper only yesterday.
We hadn’t the chance to meet personally Fr. PicX but our being a media practitioner all these years allowed us to know of his activities and advocacies. We also knew that he had been “biking” on the many dangerous trail just to have first-hand knowledge of the many abuses of certain government officials, specifically on the blatant violation of human rights.
Now that Fr. Picx is gone we wonder if some other persons, notably a servant of God like him, will rise to wear his large shoes.
