Biz sector bullish on Iloilo Airport corridor

By Jeehan V. Fernandez

THE business community here is optimistic that the P8-billion new Iloilo Airport at Sta. Barbara-Cabatuan towns will spawn booming industries nearby.

For one, giant real property developer Fil-Estate Land Inc. chair and CEO Robert John Sobrepeña announced the launching of the 153-hectare Sta. Barbara Heights at the hills of Barangay Inangayan on August 29.

Situated near the airport and just beside the century-old Iloilo Golf and Country Club, the P500-million new town development will host 500 housing units, recreational facilities, hotel and business district for office spaces that are expected to rise in two years time.

Iloilo Business Club executive director Lea Lara said they have identified the airport site as the next thriving investment haven.

“After the flood, we welcome investments. We are happy of the confidence on Iloilo of one of the country’s biggest real estate developers. This is something positive. Investments are coming in, pushing confidence in the real estate industry,” she stressed.

“There have been suggestions to expedite the airport corridor though it entails some amount. We are trying to source out a full-blown study on how to maximize and market the area,” Lara told The Daily Guardian.

She added the sprouting of several residential and small businesses near the airport have created another economic area.

The Iloilo Economic Development Foundation (ILED), an umbrella of big business groups here, is promoting local investment potentials to attract prospective investors.

Several business establishments have started construction works along the airport’s three-kilometer access road which used to be farm lands.

Stalls selling delicacies like baye-baye cooked from sticky rice, sugar, coconut flesh and milk have been mushrooming along the roadside of Sta. Barbara to Pavia where the native sweets is a flourishing business.

The establishment of road networks has been drawing subdivisions in the neighboring municipalities as growth spreads from the already congested metropolis.

In its study last year, the Consultants for Comprehensive Environmental Planning, Inc. (Concep) said the Iloilo Airport is a rising economic corridor.

Concep conducted the Metro Iloilo Guimaras Economic Development Council’s (MIGEDC) Integrated Urban and Regional Infrastructure Plan Project, a package assistance funded by Australian Agency for International Development’s (AusAid) Local Governance Development Program (LGDP).

MIGEDC is composed of Iloilo City, neighboring municipalities of Pavia, Sta. Barbara, San Miguel, Oton, Leganes and Guimaras working together for development roadmap.

Concep said “the opening of Iloilo Airport has started to catalyze development and hasten urbanization in the area between the airport and Iloilo City.”

“The development potentials of the growth corridor include a large percentage of economically-productive age group or 15-64 years old; adequate area for industrial expansion especially in Pavia; land is suitable for intensive agriculture due to fertile soil and relatively flat terrain; high quality of education and availability of vocational courses; proximity to the airport and city; presence of telecommunications and transportation facilities; and presence of tourism potentials,” Concep assessed.

To guide the physical development of the area, Concep revealed a set of spatial strategies including promotion of corridors improvement.

These are Western Corridor (Oton-Sta. Barbara Road and Iloilo City-Antique Road); West-Central Corridor (Iloilo-San Miguel Road); Central Corridor (Iloilo City-Pavia-Sta. Barbara-Kalibo Road); East-Central Corridor (Iloilo-Roxas Road); and Eastern Corridor (Sta. Barbara-Libongcogon, Zarraga Road-Iloilo Coastal Road.

The consultancy firm also suggested for the promotion of agro-industrial sector with the expansion of industries in Pavia; protection of prime agricultural lands; promotion of compact and sustainable communities; promote linkages through integrated road network system; and protection of open spaces and ecologically-sensitive areas.

Source: The Daily Guardian