The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) will be pushing for the completion of Central Mindanao Airport, or M’lang Airport, in North Cotabato to boost the economy of central Mindanao.
MinDA secretary Emmanuel Piñol in a statement said the airport, Mindanao’s only inland air hub and with the capability for commercial flights, is primarily intended to support the transport of agricultural products from the region.
Construction of M’lang Airport started in 2004 after North Cotabato acquired the 62-hectare property with government funds. By 2010, the 1.8-kilometer (km) runway and the terminal building had been completed.
However, the project was then mothballed for nine years, with missing documents cited for the failure to turn over the property to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
North Cotabato governor Nancy Catamco assured that the needed documents for the transfer of the property would be completed, MinDA said.
Senator Christopher Go, who has been tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte to coordinate with DOTr in sourcing funds to complete and operate the airport, said he will coordinate with the transport agency to have work on the airport immediately resumed.
He said he will also ask his colleagues in the Senate to help provide funds for the project.
