CDO council leader to propose transfer of Lumbia Air Base

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A ranking member of the city council announced on Tuesday he will propose the transfer to Lumbia air base away from the population center and to pave the economic development plan uptown district of the city.

Majority leader Edgar Cabanlas said that he will request during next week’s dialogue with concerned US and Philippine military officials the possible transfer of Lumbia air base, one of the designated EDCA sites in the country, which is located at the center of the city’s economy.

This early, he said residents in high-end subdivisions aired their concern over the noise of the constant presence of helicopters and low-flying huge aircraft landing in the airbase.

He said the arrival of US troops in the city was unannounced and surprised city residents.

At least 10 buses from the Laguindingan airport arrived in the city, and a US Navy logistics ship docked at the Macabalan port.

Councilor Roger Abaday, chairman of the committee on public order, in his report during the plenary session said the joint humanitarian and disaster response will be participated in by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department (CDRRMD), particularly the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) unit.

He said joint military training will be held in Kibaritan training complex, a 46,000-hectare military reservation spanning the Bukidnon towns of Kalilangan, Talakag, and Pangantucan.

Last year, troops from the Australian Defence Force trained for a month with soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division in jungle warfare in the said complex.

Air Force Colonel Anselmo Ty, commander of the 590th air group, also announced during Monday’s flag-raising ceremony at the city hall that the arrival of the US troops is in connection with the ongoing Balikatan Exercises involving the US military and the Philippine Army in Mindanao.

He said the stay of the US troops will last until April 1; it has nothing to do with the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

Ty issued the statement after a US Navy logistics ship docked late Friday at Gate 6 of Port Macabalan.

This docking is part of a broader, recently increasing U.S. military presence and planned infrastructure developments, including new naval base projects in Misamis Oriental aimed at strengthening defense capabilities in Northern Mindanao.