OF CAWIT PORT & MARINDUQUE AIRPORT

Hmm... Now it can be told after the long wait. Plans and projections apparently just couldn't be easily conveyed to those who have repeatedly kept asking about the status of the above matters. They get stalled. But now, Cawit Port has been reopened since October 8 (it should have been re-opened on Oct. 2), but Marinduque was placed under signal no. 1 because of a tropical depression (the island was to be directly hit after a day), but the typhoon never came. (Vice-President Noli de Castro was supposed to visit Marinduque the day after - Oct. 2, for the Mimaropa Regional Development Council meeting which had to be postponed on the 13th due to the threat of bad weather).

M/V REBECCA, a huge 4-storey RORO owned by Montenegro Lines now plies the Cawit-Dalahican (Talao-Talao) Port daily, leaving Cawit at 12:00 noon and 8:00pm. Now Cawit Port is again abuzz with life and the residents of Bunganay and Cawit are happy again.

The MARINDUQUE AIRPORT on the other hand await the touchdown of a 50-seater ZESTAIR (labelled as "a new refreshing brand of airline"), which is ready to serve passengers starting November or December this year (a specific date in November was mentioned in press releases but local sources revealed that it really is first week of December. Maybe best to browse through the airline's website at http://www.zestair.com.ph/. I haven't had the time today.

So that's two of the most frequently asked questions being answered.

Vice-President "Kabayan" Noli visited Marinduque last October 13 after the postponement of the RDC Council Meet. Governor Carrion took up with him certain issues and concerns about Marinduque. That included the said port and airport yes, the hospital and other important matters taken up by the Marinduque government with the President in other venues, which certainly needed follow-ups.

Ecstatic about the opening of the airport is Provincial Administrator Allan Q. Velasco, who met with the Provincial Tourism Council yesterday in preparation for what may well be the biggest Moriones Festival celebration in years! The airport opening is a shot in the arm at this time, indeed!