What if all national government offices were transferred from the National Capital Region to parts of what used to be the Clark Air Force Base, now administered by the Clark Development Authority under the Bases Conversion Development Authority?
What used to be an American military base is all of 40,000 hectares, including the air target range called Crow Valley. Most of these are flatlands, with hilly portions towards the west. Some of the foothills of Mt. Cuadrado and other relatively upland areas of Porac may be public domain. Imagine transferring all national government offices there. In this age of computers and internet linkages, why should the national government be in congested Metro Manila at all? It can be wherever in the archipelago and it won’t affect public services.
Such a transfer would easily decongest NCR, free up government buildings which can be leased to the private sector, and some, like Malacañang, converted into a museum. Batasang Pambansa could be another theater for the performing arts. Some huge buildings could be retro-fitted and converted into hospitals, even hotels.
They have done it in Washington DC which L’Enfant designed as the nation’s capital, while New York remained the financial and commercial capital.
In the late 50s, Brazil transferred the seat of government to Brasilia, carving a city from the jungles. Islamabad instead of Karachi in Pakistan. Ankara instead of Istanbul for Turkey. Naypyidaw for Myanmar rather than Yangon. Closer to home, Putrajaya instead of Kuala Lumpur for Malaysia.
The average citizen hardly transacts with the national government anyway. And more so in a federal system as envisioned by President Duterte, where licenses and vehicle registration shall be the domain of local or state governments. A national ID system should render obsolescent NBI clearances, police clearances, and even the NSO certificate.
Transferring to Clark will also make the international airport therein quite busy, and linked with Subic via SCTEX and a train already on the planning stage, we shall be able to create a major gateway similar to Narita in Japan. The previous BCDA administration had envisioned a 9,500-hectare Green City inside Clark. These could complement a future transfer of the national government center in Central Luzon.
But Clark, even if we were to build another parallel runway, would still be 80 kms. distant from NCR, one might say. Frankly, there are times when a Quezon City or Caloocan resident would traverse NLEX to Clark faster than navigating through C-5 or Edsa and thence to the Naia airports, with its legendary traffic.
But what about areas south of the Pasig River, including Calabarzon?
Imagine a new international gateway located in what used to be another American facility, Sangley, which is now utilized by the Philippine Navy? On a clear day, you can see Cavite City from Roxas Boulevard. Just beside Cavite City is Sangley. Draw a straight line between Cavitex and Sangley, across Manila Bay, and you are probably about two kilometers away. One could envision a causeway connecting the two.
Right now, the Department of Transportation under the indefatigable Art Tugade wants to transfer general aviation from the Naia complex to Sangley, and perhaps low-cost carriers. That should free up 10 to 15 percent of airplanes landing and taking-off the single Naia runway. There are actually two, but a short runway is perpendicular to the 3.2 km. runway that begins at SLEX on the northeast going to Paranaque on the southwest, rendering it useless.
But in the near future, that would not be enough to decongest traffic to and from the Naia complex. With air traffic increasing by quantum leaps, both domestic and international, another gateway other than Clark may be needed. The same could service all passengers and cargoes emanating from and going to all areas south of the Pasig, including the factory complexes in Cavite, Laguna and Batangas.
Sangley could thus be our Haneda and Clark our Narita if comparison were to be made with Japan and its center, Tokyo. The project would entail quite a sum, but it is an investment in the future that has become necessary. We would have to reclaim some land for two lengthy runways, but then so did Hong Kong for Chep Lap Kok, and Osaka for Kansai. And many more all over the globe.
The problem with operating Sangley as a major airport is that it shares the same air space as the present Naia complex. Which means we would have to retire Naia to make Sangley economically feasible.
But then why not? Those 650 hectares that comprise the Naia complex could thus be freed for a 300-hectare park (that’s double the present Bonifacio Global City which is about 150 hectares). The rest of the Naia complex would be a major real estate jewel. One would just hope our planners and policy makers do not think of another Makati, or Ortigas, or BGC, which is densely packed with concrete buildings. Think instead of a major “lung” for the metropolis. Rizal Park is less than 50 hectares, Quezon Memorial Park is probably less, but then again, it’s been just as “uglified”.
Imagine a Central Park as in Manhattan, or a smaller version of Hyde Park as in London, the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, or Bois de Boulogne in Paris, right inside the metropolis. Beautiful!
And why ever not?
Dreaming further, think of new summer capitals: in the north to replace cramped and uglified Baguio City; in the south, in the boundary of Bukidnon and Davao City, currently called Bu-Da. Visayas can have a beautified Kanlaon City in the west; and the highlands around Mt. Manunggal towards the trans-central road in Cebu City.
Mainland Luzon, from Laoag and Aparri in its north (including Batanes and the Babuyanes) all the way to the Bicol Peninsula, excluding Masbate, Romblon and Palawan, would roughly be 55 percent of the country’s population. Visayas and Mindanao, including Masbate, Romblon and Palawan, would be the balance 45 percent.
Envision a different world from the present. And all it needs is properly and innovatively planned infrastructure, and a vision possible with the current government’s policy thrusts and daring. A greater and more beautiful Philippines is in the realm of the possible, and doable too.