November 30, 2019

Atty. Arthur P. Tugade

Secretary

Department of Transportation (DOTr)

 

Mark A. Villar

Secretary

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)

 

Captain Jim C. Sydiongco

Director General

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP)

 

Dear Honorable Sirs:

We are respectfully raising to your kind and immediate attention the current situation of Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road, a 10.12 kilometers road that connects Bacolod City and Talisay City to the Bacolod – Silay International Airport, in Silay City, Negros Occidental.

The people of Negros Occidental and Bacolod are thankful for this access road which started in 2012, completed in 2013 and opened I 2014 and cost P415,893 million, spanning six bridges and five intersections. The road project starts from the northern end of the Bacolod Circumferential Road heading northward, traversing sugar cane plantation areas in Talisay City and then northward to Barangay Bagtic in Silay City, all of Negros Occidental. The feasibility study and the technical and financial assistance was funded by the Republic of Korea through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund and constructed by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Company.

However, during these recent years, the access road has constantly been the subject of complaints by commuters, residents, as well as visitors because of the poor state of its road lighting or illumination especially during nighttime.

With already around 50 incoming and outgoing flights per day as serviced by three national airlines, Bacolod City and all the cities and municipalities of the Province of Negros Occidental has a substantial volume of air passengers needing to traverse the said road on a daily basis. Due to the passenger volume, schedules of flights start from as early as 4 clock in the morning, which demands commuters to travel to the airport even as early as 2 o’clock in the morning; while the latest flights arrive up to around past 10 o’clock in the evening, which requires arriving guests to traverse the road even as late as midnight. This road condition is not ideal at all to ensure safety and convenience of road users.

In these recent months, almost all the streetlights are no longer functioning, hence rendering almost the whole stretch of the road under the state of darkness. The reason given was that bulbs, cables and other related components of the streetlights were reportedly stolen. But this not reasn enough to deprive our citizens of the full and efficient use of the road.

We are also thankful for the latest report that another project under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) amounting to P144.743 million is on-going. This current project involved widening of both sides of the 4.013-kilometer access road going to Bacolod-Silay Airport road with an average of 3.5 meters including embankment protection, sprigging, concrete paving blocks and widening of existing cross drainage.

We qoute a local DPWH official who announced the expansion and recently reportedly said "the access road serves as a main thoroughfare, providing access for farm products to the market, especially the hauling of sugarcane from farm-to-mill and serves as entry point to several tourist destinations without experiencing inconvenience due to delay brought by traffic. The improvement of this road also benefits the local community in terms of easy access to the market, airport, schools and health facilities, and generating savings in fuel cost among motorists."

The value of this access road has been constantly emphasized and repeated for everyone to be concerned. Many mishaps and accidents have already occurred in the said road and we wish not to see more of these. Therefore, we are jointly raising our voices to bring this concern to your attention.   

WE APPEAL for help from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) since you are the primary policy, planning, programming, coordinating, implementing and administrative entity of the executive branch of the government on the promotion, development and regulation of a dependable and coordinated network of transportation systems, as well as in the fast, safe, efficient and reliable transportation services. We invoke you to include Bacolod and Negros Occidental in your mission to provide the country with efficient, effective, and secure transportation systems that are globally competitive, compliant with international standards, and responsive to the changing times.

WE APPEAL for help to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in line with your vision to be an effective and efficient government agency, improving the life of every Filipino through quality infrastructure and your mission to provide and manage quality infrastructure facilities and services responsive to the needs of the Filipino people in the pursuit of national development objectives.

WE APPEAL for help from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) in line with your vision to be a pre-eminent Civil Aviation Authority in the world and a global brand of excellence in civil aviation and mission to ensure a safe, secure and green Philippine Sky. Travelling includes not only air travel but the journey of a travel from his point of origin to the airports.

PLEASE HELP LIGHT UP THE BACOLOD-SILAY AIRPORT ACESS ROAD ON A SUSTAINED AND EFFICIENT BASIS.

Please make the BACOLOD-SILAY ACCESS ROAD, the BACOLOD-SILAY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT and the PEOPLE OF BACOLOD AND NEGROS OCCIDENTAL AS PART OF YOUR VISION and MISSION by developing strategies to ensure the sustainable, efficient and quality road lighting of the access roads leading to the said airport for the safety, convenience and well-being of the Filipinos and our foreign visitors. Please help us put to good use the investment of government and private sector in building the infrastructure by giving life to its purpose - which is the safety, health an d well-being, prodcutivity, convenience and general welfare of the Filipino people.

We will sincerely appreciate your concern and attention to this matter.

Madamu Nga Salamat!