DESPITE a supposed inclusion of funds in the 2008 budget of the Department of Transportation and Communication for the proposed international airport in Alaminos City, other mayors of Pangasinan appear ready to lobby for the airport to be established somewhere else like in Sta. Barbara.

The move was formalized last week by the Pangasinan Mayors League (PML) led by Binalonan Mayor Ramon Guico, Jr. which presented a manifesto to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expressing preference for Sta. Barbara as site.

The move of his fellow mayors has reportedly irked Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza who said the matter of airport site should transcend “narrow political or partisan interests.”

President Arroyo declared during her State of the Nation Address before Congress sometime in July that the international airport would be located in Alaminos City, where Pangasinan’s top tourist spot, the Hundred Islands National Park, is located.

Sta. Barbara Mayor Reynaldo Velasco, PML executive vice president, said his town is ready to accommodate the proposed international airport, adding that some 500 hectares of land in barangay Leet, Sta. Barbara is available for the project.

Representatives from the Air Transport Office already conducted an ocular inspection of the proposed site of the airport in his city preparatory to the conduct of feasibility study on the project, he said.

Acting Governor Marlyn Primicias-Agabas said the provincial government is adopting a neutral position on the issue, saying they will support wherever President Arroyo deems the airport to be located as the money will come from the national government.