The Antique Provincial Board has given its nod to the proposed establishment of the satellite radar station of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) in Mt. Liwliw in the municipality of Anini-y.
The plan was presented by Brig. Gen. Ronie Petinglay, commander of the 580th Aircraft Control and Warning Wing of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), to the Provincial Board during Monday’s regular session, said Board Member Pio Jessielito Sumande, Sr., chair of the committee on peace and order and public safety, in an interview Tuesday.
The satellite radar station will form part of the PAF Integrated Air Defense System capabilities.
“There was a full support expressed by the provincial board members during our session because of the advantages that it could bring,” Sumande said.
The establishment of the facility will pave the way for the construction of a road making the mountainous area of the municipality accessible to the public while the presence of the personnel could also hasten humanitarian services for the people.
The satellite radar could also be a tourist attraction, Sumande added.
The area where the radar station is proposed to be set up used to host a similar American facility from the 1980s until 1992 as part of the RP-US Military Bases Treaty.
Sumande said he will be coordinating with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) since the area is public land and government-owned.
The Board Member said the PAF needs at least 15 to 30 hectares of land for the satellite radar station and other eventual facilities to be put up.
He will also be passing a resolution addressed to Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao, Representative Antonio Agapito Legarda, and Coop-Natcco Partylist Rep. Felimon Espares for a fund allocation for the concreting of the road from Barangay Fatima in Anini-y going to Mt. Liwliw in Barangay Tagaytay. The two-kilometer road construction will cost at least PHP20 million.
PAF Tactical Operations Group 6 Commander, Lieutenant Col. Ramedinthine Tolentino, in a separate interview, said their satellite radar can help secure the population within the periphery because it could detect incoming and outgoing unauthorized aircraft.
“Whenever the Civil Aviation Authority in the Philippines (CAAP) radar at the Antique Airport has a problem then the PAF radar can augment it,” he said. (PNA)
