ALAMINOS CITY – Funds for the conduct of a feasibility study for the proposed Pangasinan Airport Project here have already been released.

This was disclosed by Mayor Hernani Braganza in his State of the City Address who said this was relayed to him by Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya.

A similar report in a North Luzon Agri-business Quadrangle (NLAQ) leaflet appeared to support the disclosure on the funding of the airport.The leaflet was distributed as part of NLAQ info materials during the opening of a photo exhibit of the Office of the Press Secretary at the Tourism and Trade Expo in Lingayen last Friday.

“We are hoping and praying that this major project, which will trigger more and unparalleled development in the whole province as promised by Her Excellency President Madam Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, will finally be realized,” Braganza said.

Braganza noted that with an airport in Alaminos, the many natural resources and beautiful tourist spots in the province will become more accessible to tourists and investors.

“With this project, Pangasinenses will no longer be denied of dollars that are brought in by tourists and investors,” he added.

The tourist money will provide new and lasting jobs to Alaminos and Pangasinan residents and more revenues for the province, he added.

Braganza also announced that the city governments of Dagupan, Alaminos and San Fernando City (La Union) have just signed a memorandum of agreement for the realization of the Tri-City Tourism Project within the Lingayen Gulf.

The project will link the three key cities through a ferry system that will cut travel time between the three points.

Braganza said the ferry system will attract more tourists and visitors to the region’s government center in San Fernando, the business hub of Dagupan and the ultimate eco-tourist destination (Hundred Islands) in Alaminos.

“We just need to be more patient, work hard because our city has all the resources and the only Hundred Islands National Park in the world,” he added.