EU Bans Airlines From Philippines, Sudan on Safety

The European Union prohibited all airlines based in the Philippines and Sudan from flying in the bloc under the latest changes to a list of unsafe carriers. The EU said “serious safety deficiencies” in the Philippines’ regulation of carriers and a “poor safety performance” by aviation authorities in Sudan justify the operating bans.

The European Commission, the 27-nation EU’s executive arm, cited assessments by the International Civil Aviation Organization. “We cannot accept that airlines fly into the EU if they do not fully comply with international safety standards,” EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said in a statement today in Brussels.

The EU also restricted the operations of Iran Air, eased curbs on TAAG Angola Airlines by letting it fly to all EU destinations under “strict conditions” rather than only to Lisbon, and permitted North Korea’s Air Koryo -- on the list since 2006 -- to operate in the bloc with two approved aircraft.

This is the 13th update of a blacklist first drawn up by the commission in March 2006 with more than 90 airlines mainly from Africa. The ban already covers carriers from nations including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Indonesia, Liberia and Rwanda. Airline crashes in 2004 and 2005 that killed hundreds of European travelers prompted EU governments to seek a uniform approach to airline safety through a common blacklist.

The list, updated at least four times a year, is based on deficiencies found during checks at European airports, the use of antiquated aircraft by companies and shortcomings by non-EU airline regulators. Poor Safety Records In addition to imposing an operational ban in Europe, the blacklist can act as a guide for travelers worldwide and influence safety policies in non-EU countries.

Nations that are home to carriers with poor safety records can ground them to avoid being put on the EU list, while countries keen to keep out unsafe foreign airlines can use the European list as a guide for their own bans.

The new measures affect about 40 carriers in the Philippines including Philippine Airlines Inc. and Cebu Air Inc. and 12 in Sudan, Helen Kearns, transport spokeswoman at the commission, told reporters. None of those carriers currently operates services to the EU, she said later by telephone.

CAAP to invite EU committee to conduct RP safety inspection

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) hopes to demonstrate the country’s commitment to improved air safety oversight by inviting the European Union Air Safety Committee (EU-ASC) to conduct its own Safety Inspection of the national aviation system, according to Director General Alfonso Cusi.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) downgraded the Philippines from Category 1 to Category 2 in November 2007 after the then Air Transportation Office (ATO) received unfavorable review under FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment.

Despite the passage of a new law that created CAAP and replaced the former ATO in 2007, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) still raised a Significant Safety Concern (SSC) on the Philippines last year.

This led to the invitation by the EU-ASC to a conference in Brussels this week which many observers deemed as notice that the Philippines would likely be blacklisted by the European Commission (EC).

“We are actually on a mission here. We hope that we can convince them that the Philippine aviation system is safe and that it is not necessary for them to blacklist us,” Cusi declared.

“It will be detrimental to the Philippine economy if we are disconnected from this very important trade and commercial route because of a blacklist.” The new CAAP chief has also ordered heightened surveillance inspection of air operators conducting international flights and other measures to address air safety concerns barely a week since his appointment.

“There is urgency in our current position to demonstrate that we have strong oversight of the air carriers active in the Philippines and that our regulations and practices are aligned with international civil aviation standards,” he stressed. He called for the immediate hiring of 47 qualified technical personnel for the Flight Standards Inspectorate Service and the issuance of an order that will ground air operators who are not certified by December 1, 2010.

He also sought the assistance of the Civil Service Commission for the immediate approval of the Minimum Quality Standards for the needed technical staff.

Funding for TPLEX assured

IN case bank financing becomes a problem due to the slow right-of-way (ROW) acquisitions, the consortium led by DMCI Holdings and San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will be ready to draw more funds from its equity just to make sure it will be able to finish the 50-kilometer initial stretch of the $312.5-million Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) in less than three years.

“If financing is still not available, we will put the additional capital. That is also what San Miguel said. We need to keep to the spirit of this public-private partnership,” Jorge Consunji, DMCI president and COO, told reporters on Tuesday.

Already, Consunji said TPLEX proponent Private Infrastructure Development Corp., which is 70 percent owned by SMC and DMCI, has already made available P1.5 billion from its funds. The amount, he said, can be used by the consortium to run the construction operations for 12 to 18 months.

He said under the project terms of reference, Banco de Oro and other partner-banks will only release financing after the ROW for the entire 50-km stretch from La Paz, Tarlac, to Carmen, Pangasinan, has been acquired by the government.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the team of Presidential Management Staff chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. have so far secured only 30 km of ROW.

To be able to acquire the ROW for the properties to be affected along the 50-km stretch, Consunji said about P4 billion is needed.

The consortium is shouldering some of the advanced payments for the ROW. It is awaiting the P3-billion financing from the National Development Co. (NDC). It also has a bank credit line of P10 billion. Consunji said they are ready to finish the La Paz to Carmen section in two-and-a-half to three years, “depending on the delivery of the ROW.”

He said they are ready to begin construction in La Paz going to Carmen after the Holy Week. Construction already started in Carmen going south, so the road buildup will be simultaneous in both ends, and will meet somewhere in between.

“We can proceed without financing for up to 18 months,” he said.

TPLEX is the next major road project in the area after the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway. With these two expressways connected, travel time from Balintawak to the foot of Baguio City in La Union will be cut to about three hours.

Philippines gets 10 Doppler radars

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government on Wednesday said it has acquired 10 new Doppler radars, 5 of which are expected to be fully operational in the next two years.

President Arroyo announced the acquisition in her speech at the 28th anniversary of the Department of Science and Technology's Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development.

In an interview, DOST Undersecretary Graciano Yumul said Doppler radars are useful in providing detailed weather information including intensity and volume of rainfall in the country.

He said the radars still need to undergo debugging to make sure it reaches the standards and picks up signals properly. "Kung baga sa bagong kotse, it has to reach its first 5,000 kilometers to 'break-in,'" he told reporters.

He added that he hopes three Doppler radars in Subic, Baguio and Baler will be operation in time for typhoon season this year.

Officials of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) earlier blamed lack of Doppler radars for its failure to accurately predict the amount of rainfall brought by Typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma) last September and October.

The twin storms claimed the lives of over a thousand people and destroyed property worth about P38 billion.

PAGASA officials earlier said a Doppler radar costs around P100 million.

NAIA steps up preparations for Holy Week exodus

With the Holy Week exodus due to peak next week, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has intensified preparations to ensure safe air travel.

New Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Melvin Matibag has ordered the fine tuning of preparations on a day-to-day basis, radio dzBB's Denver Trinidad reported Wednesday.

Matibag said he expects the volume of passengers to double or even triple during this period.

He ordered check on safety preparations particularly at the NAIA's Terminals 2 and 3, which handle domestic flights.

Also, he ordered regular meetings with managers of Terminals 1 and 2, and the airport's domestic terminals.

For their part, the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency have teamed up to keep watch against attempts to smuggle drugs during the Holy Week.

Radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported that Coast Guard spokesman Cmdr. Armand Balilo had ordered tight watch particularly over tourist destinations such as Boracay, Palawan, and Bohol.

Balilo said they will monitor closely possible smuggling of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) and ecstacy pills.

For its part, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board started on Monday the review applications for special permits.

The special permits allow bus operators to operate outside their regular routes as provided for by their franchises

Caticlan proponent says ‘no deal’ yet

THE PROPONENT of the P2.5-billion Boracay airport modernization project has yet to forge deals with any party, including conglomerate San Miguel Corp., an executive said yesterday.

“No agreement with anyone,” George T. Yang, chairman of Caticlan International Airport Development Corp., said in a mobile “text” message.

In a disclosure, San Miguel said it was “in talks with the consortium led by Mr. George T. Yang for the acquisition of up to 51% equity interest.”

The government signed a 25-year concession agreement with Mr. Yang’s conglomerate last year.

Mactan int’l airport terminal project expansion underway

The expansion of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport terminal has finally begun.

The P178.6 million project aims to accommodate more travelers and improve the quality of available services, said MCIAA general manager Danilo Augusto Francia at a press conference yesterday.

It includes the construction of two more passenger waiting lounges, two boarding bridges, and two passageways to the bridges.

The project is slated for completion on September 2011.

Funding will come from the airport's revenues, which has reached P76.03 million,

When the Mactan airport was opened in the 1960s to replace the old Lahug airport in Cebu City, the facility was built to accommodate 4.5 million passengers during peak hours: 4 million domestic passengers and 500,000 international passengers.

Last year alone, one million international passengers used the Mactan airport, where daily traffic has exceeded its capacity.

The airport welcomes an average of 14,000 passengers daily, mostly from domestic flights, said Francia.

“This was not prepared to be an airport hub when this was constructed. We noticed that the lounges were not enough to accommodate the existing passengers,” Francia explained.

“All the counters are enough except for the lounges. That is why all the expansion is for additional lounges. That is the concentration for this construction.”

The expansion “will add comfort and quality for the passengers.”

He assured that construction, which will go on for 18months, will not disrupt airport operations.

Security will also be tightened with the installation of more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras .

Last week, a woman, who had just sent off her daughter on a dawn flight, lost her bag to a taxi-riding robber who stopped her as she was walking on the road over a block away from the terminal.

About 200 construction workers will be on duty in different shifts at the airport, said Francia.

Their movements will be monitored and all gates will be fitted with CCTV cameras to record any untoward incidents, he said.

Full-court press for category 1 for Naia

THE new head of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) on Tuesday said he has appointed 23 technical people—check pilots, cabin crew, accident investigators, aircraft inspectors, other related positions—with 23 more later to meet the pre-requisites of international aviation-safety rules to ensure that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) regains its Category 1 rating.

The Category 1 rating means an airport meets all security and safety standards and is safe for any aircraft to use. The Naia has been downgraded to Category 2 after an International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao) inspection found it deficient in many technical requirements.

Caap Director General Alfonso Cusi said new personnel will man the Flight Standard Inspectorate Service to meet the Icao flight-safety requirements and especially that of the European Union, which earlier threatened to boycott the Naia if the Philippines does not quickly raise the airport standard. “My first day in office at the Caap was spent looking at the ‘serious safety concern’ that the Icao had raised last October which I will present at the European Union in Brussels this week,” said Cusi. “I am now confident that the country would no longer be blacklisted by that aviation body.”   

He is scheduled to brief Daniel Calleja, the European Union director general for transportation and energy, on what had been achieved by the agency in compliance with their safety concerns aired by the Icao audit team last October 2009. Cusi flew to Brussels on Tuesday for the crucial meeting.

Air-safety certification review

IN this connection, Cusi said his office had issued an advisory to all airline companies that all who had not been certified by the aviation body in compliance with the Civil Air Regulations would no longer be allowed to fly starting December 2010. “Republic Act 9497 creating the Caap had ruled that all airlines must comply.”  

Among the rules these air carriers must follow in order to continue flying is to have airworthiness certifications of all their airliners. Furthermore, all of their pilots must be qualified, and they must have the proper facilities such as repair shops, training program and servicing facilities.

Deputy Director Eduardo Kapunan said that every year, all air carriers undergo this certification; at present the country has some 1,400 registered aircraft.

He added that due to the sad experience of an air carrier being involved in several accidents, the Caap has now added a stipulation that the airline companies must also have a “Safety Management System,” meaning, they must have operation manuals, written flight-safety standards and other safety-related systems.

On top of that, the Icao has required that, in order to pass certification, an aircraft must also have the approval of the Joint Aviation Regulation, which is the Caap’s counterpart in the European Union. Their aircraft must also have been certified by the United States and Canada.

This means that European, Canadian or American-made aircraft have a greater chance of getting through the certification, rather than those made elsewhere, such as the Chinese-made MA-60 and the LET 410 made by the Czech Republic.

Aviation rating key to recovery -- PAL

FLAG CARRIER Philippine Airlines (PAL) is banking on the country’s return to the US Category 1 aviation safety rating to hike revenues in the coming years.

PAL President Jaime J. Bautista told reporters at the sidelines of the airline’s 69th anniversary that the company is expecting to break even in the coming 2010-2011 fiscal year but said aviation safety issues plaguing the country can be resolved soon.

“It’s only on the condition that we should be able to fly to the United States as soon as possible with our new [Boeing] 777 that we will not get a third year of loss. But for the coming year income is not contingent on the category,” said Mr. Bautista.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the Philippine aviation from Category 1 to Category 2 in 2007 due to noncompliance with International Civil Aviation Organization safety standards, preventing PAL from expanding operations in the United States. A second review in 2008 yielded the same result.

Mr. Bautista said the government should be able to get the Category 2 classification lifted in six to 12 months.

The airline wants to fly to Chicago, San Diego and New York and may also mount additional flights to San Francisco. It is also planning flights to India through Bangkok, Thailand

Videos of the Fire at Omni

The professionalism of the CDC fire Department, CIAC Fire response team
and the Air Force Fire Department is impressive. All three teams responded
rapidly and efficiently ..


The Fire burnt quite fiercely, flames 30-40 feet in the air
The two guys in white are from the CDC Public Safety Department
They did a fantastic job for just two of them.



The CIAC Fire Truck wetting down the remaining grass
to prevent re-light. The pressure from this pump is awesome.
Nice to know how good it is if there was a need to use it on a plane


..
The aftermath, not much Grass left. Lots of roasted
Cobras and homeless Swallows

Just had a massive Grass Fire at Omni. Photos Below ..

A brave Omni Pilot taxis by the flames ..












CIAC Fire Department on the job, way to go boys ..











Flames leap 30-40 feet into the air, the grass was DRY ...













CIAC Fire Truck in action, that is a LOT of High Pressure Water ..











The Omni Fire Team did their part ..

RP, Australia partnership defines strategic nat’l transport network

The Philippines-Australia Partnership for Economic Governance Reforms (PEGR) has defined a strategic national transport network under the proposed national transport plan for the country.

The strategic national transport network will serve to create a unified, well-integrated economy where people and goods can move and trade swiftly and efficiently both domestically and internationally, according to assistant team leader George Esguerra.

The network would expand capacities and level of service in the inter-regional and inter-provincial transport links based on the emerging concentrations of demand generated by industries and services.

Esguerra stressed that the country’s roads, seaports, airports, and railways have been spotty and many of them are operating beyond asset capacities.

As specified in the plan, the strategic national road network consists of north-south road backbone, east-west laterals, and other roads of strategic national importance which inter-link regional and provincial capitals, growth centers, and defined principal ports and airports of the country.

The plan aims to increase the paved ratio from 21% to 90% of the entire road network by end-2016.

As regards the national port network, it covers the base ports and terminal ports under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Port Authority (PPA) and the Cebu Port Authority (CPA), and ports directly managed by the special economic zones, particularly the Subic Port (SP) and the Mindanao International Container Port (MICP).

The plan targets to improve or construct 15 RORO terminal ports and nine ports for international transport and strengthen port security systems and procedures of all national ports by end-2016.

The national airport network, on the other hand, consists of the international ports under the special airport authorities and the national airports in the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) airport classifications, except the 40 community airports while the road RORO terminal system includes the identified Western, Central and Eastern Nautical Highways.

Under the plan, four international airports (Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA), Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Mactan, Cebu and Laoag) will be developed and four intermodal and tourism airports such as Panglao, Caticlan, Puerto Princesa, Butuan and Cotabato – are to be expanded.

The strategic national transport network translates to a seamless, intermodal transport logistics network connecting production hubs, distribution centers and markets to establish high-quality, efficient logistics chains.

Part of the plan is to establish a single transport document for customs, immigration, quarantine and security purposes that can be used in all transport modes and a single access point for administrative processes and procedures to promote the simplification and decentralization of exchanges of freight-related information and to substantially reduce the cost of regulatory requirements.

The proposed NTP is estimated to cost P748 billion or about 1.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), about 69% of which are for road and road transport.

The investment cost is slightly higher than the average actual investment in transport infrastructure during period 1999-2008, which is less than 1% of GDP, but is significantly lower compared to about 4% for other Asian countries.

San Miguel eyes Caticlan airport project

Firm to buy 51% stake of George Yang’s group

MANILA, Philippines--San Miguel Corp. has gained a foothold into a pioneering airport development business by taking a majority stake in the modernization of the Caticlan airport, the gateway to the country’s world-famous beach spot Boracay Island.

Inquirer sources said San Miguel had agreed to come in as a strategic partner of the consortium led by Chinese-Filipino businessman George Yang that bagged the right to modernize the Caticlan airport under a 25-year concession arrangement with the government.

San Miguel is expected to sign an agreement to buy a 51-percent interest in Yang-led Caticlan International Airport Development Corp. (CIADC) anytime this week, a source familiar with the matter told the Inquirer. The conglomerate was invited to participate in the much-awaited project by Yang himself and the partnership deal had been in the works for many months now.

CIADC’s Caticlan project is touted as the first ever privatization of an airport terminal in the Philippines. At the same time, it is in line with San Miguel’s diversification into the infrastructure business and recent foray into leisure estate development in Boracay.

The modernization of the Caticlan airport alone is worth around P2.5 billion, based on the framework approved by the National Economic and Development Authority. But the project also has a commercial component that entails the development of a 16-hectare property beside the airport. This peripheral project is estimated to cost P10 billion.

The upgrading involves the construction of a bigger airport passenger terminal, extension of the existing runway from 950 meters to 2,100 meters to accommodate bigger aircraft, improvement of the road network, and upgrading of airport facilities and air traffic control aids. The proponents have also committed to build other support utilities, install fire-fighting equipment and construct a diversion road.

The project is based on a build-rehabilitate-operate-transfer agreement. CIADC has up to seven years to build and expand the airport and 25 years to operate the facilities. All revenues will go to CIADC except for earnings from the operation and maintenance of navigation systems, which would go to the Department of Transportation and Communication.

The modernization work on the Caticlan airport started last January. Once finished, CIADC expects fares to be more competitive for passengers since airlines can use aircraft with more seating capacity than the turbo-propellers that are mostly being used today. A modernized Caticlan airport is also targeted to serve as an international gateway not only to Boracay but also to the rest of the Visayas.

Yang, who holds the master franchise for American fast-food giant McDonald’s in the Philippines, also has some real estate investments in Boracay.

San Miguel, through its property arm San Miguel Properties Inc., is also breaking into Boracay’s booming tourism after recently acquiring a 28-hectare property targeted for leisure development.

SMPI’s Boracay property is adjacent to the plush Shangri-La hotel and is now being planned for development into a residential condominium complex.

GMA scraps $100-million Clark airport deal with Kuwait firm

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga , Philippines  – President Arroyo has directed the scrapping of the Kuwaiti Al Mal Consortium in the list of possible contractors for a $100 million passenger terminal at the Diosdado Macapagal Internatiional Airport here amid controversies.

Reliable sources from Malacañang and the Clark International Airport Corp. said the President relayed her directive to former Malacañang public affairs secretary Edgardo Pamintuan during her visit to her hometown in Lubao on Saturday.

“Cut it (any negotiation with Al Mal),” an angry President was quoted to have said. Mrs. Arroyo was reported to have been angered by reports linking her to Al Mal’s interest in the terminal project. Al Mal is a subsidiary of the Kuwaiti firm M.A. Kharafi and Sons.

Pamintuan said in a text message to The Star that the President was supposed to meet about this with CIAC president Victor Jose Luciano, CIAC executive vice president Nestor Mangio, and CIAC executive vice president Alex Cauguiran at the Haribon aviation complex of the Philippine Air Force before flying to the Visayas yesterday morning.

“Let’s make it (President’s directive) after she has met with them,” he said.

Reached by phone, Mangio, who has been pushing for Al Mal as contractor for the project apparently retained hopes that the Kuwaiti firm, with its local partner Al Mal-Pride, would still get the project amid a seven-day deadline imposed on Friday, for it to agree to CIAC’s terms of agreement on the project.
“The President went to the Middle East last year to look into the capability of Al Mal to undertake the airport project. We were impressed by the airport project it built in Egpyt,” he said.

But The Star obtained from a CIAC source early yesterday a statement that was supposed to be released after a meeting of its board late in the afternoon to officially announce the termination of negotiations with Al Mal-Pride as the President had directed.

Terminate negotiations

“We are terminating the negotiations with the Al Mal-Pride consortium due to the non-acceptability of their proposed terms and conditions for a possible joint venture agreement with CIAC for the development of various components of DMIA complex,” the statement said.
The statement said that “out of respect for the other party and until they have officially received our written communication, we will have to refrain from discussing those grounds for the rejection of their proposal.”
But it also said “we categorically deny any attempt to railroad the award of the project to Al Mal-Pride consortium. Records will bear out that Al Mal’s unsolicited proposal to develop the DMIA was first submitted all the way back to April 2008.”

“CIAC had been very careful and judicious in negotiating the terms of our agreement. But while we needed to develop DMIA through the entry of much needed foreign investments, we also needed to protect public interest and make sure we will not violate the law. It was a difficult balancing act,” the statement further said.
CIAC executive vice president Cauguiran said that Al Mal had been pushing for onerous provisions in its version of TOR, including the prohibition of any operation of a premiere airport within a 150-kilometer radius of the DMIA.

Aviation Security Group arrests Albay mayor at Naia for violating firearms ban

THE Aviation Security Group (ASG) assigned at the premier airport yesterday prevented the mayor of Malinao, Albay, from boarding his plane after he was found to be in possession of a caliber 45 pistol with a bogus Commission on Election, (Comelec) gun exemption.

P/SSupt. Napoleon Lim Cuaton, the chief of the National Capital Region aviation police, said Mayor Avelino Ceriola surrendered his gun upon entering Terminal 2 while on his way to board Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR 277 bound for Legaspi City.

The ASG authorities immediately subjected the gun for verification with the Comelec. However, the election body said Ceriola was not on their list of persons given the authority to bear or transport the firearm in connection with the May 10 elections.

Cuaton informed Ceriola of the Comelec’s findings and immediately placed the latter under arrest.

Ceriola is now confined at the ASG headquarters while waiting to be brought to the Pasay City Fiscal’s Office for inquest.

Ceriola becomes part of more than 1,000 individuals who violated the election gun ban since the prohibition was enforced, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

PNP spokesman Supt. Leonardo Espina said that so far, the number of gun-ban violators has numbered 1,376, most (1,212) were civilians while the rest (164) were state employees.

To date, the PNP has recovered 1,187 firearms, 800 air guns and replica guns, 328 bladed weapons, and 224 grenades and explosives.

The latest to be apprehended were 15 individuals, 14 of them civilians, whose firearms and weapons were confiscated by authorities on March 10.

Espina said a total of seven firearms, one air gun and five bladed weapons were seized from the gun-ban violators.

Last December the Comelec issued Resolution 1814, which recalled the permits of all gun holders, including private individuals acting as security aides of politicians.

The ban does not cover members of the police, the military and other law-enforcement agencies who are on duty.

The directive, which will be in effect from Jan. 10 to June 9, is intended to minimize violence during the campaign period leading to the May 10 polls.

No Visas required - Refurbished golf course to revive Subic airport

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Subic Golf Course operator Hanafil Golf and Tour Inc. will revive the Subic Bay International Airport by bringing in more foreign golfers once the golfing facility is finished.
The company plans to resume its junket flights after golf course stakeholder Hanatour, South Korea’s largest tourism company, pledged to bring in tourists directly to Subic.

“We are planning to use the SBIA and a partner airline company with low cost fares to bring in more golfers from other countries. The golf course was designed to handle 180 golfers a day, and that number will expand once we add nine more holes in the next phase of the development,” Hanafil President and CEO Benjamin John Defensor III said.

Currently, the company has completed 40 percent of the reconstruction process for the course.
“That includes the reshaping of the greens and fairways of the first nine holes to make it flow better,” Defensor said.

“Current improvements are the eco-friendly irrigation system that uses recycled water, brand new nursery that can use salt water and the drainage system that was replaced to accommodate the volume of rainfall come this rainy season.”

“But these renovations are not just for new members; the company is also accommodating all previous members of the golf club as long as they update their accounts and coordinate with us and the SBMA (Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority),” Defensor said.

An agreement was signed recently between the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the SBMA and Clark Development Corporation (CDC) that would allow visa-free entry to foreigners visiting the two free ports.
Under the agreement signed by Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan with SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza and CDC President Benigno Ricafort, officers and personnel of foreign locators in the two free ports may now enter and stay in the country without a visa for a period of 14 days.

The privilege, however, will only be extended to those arriving through the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) or the SBIA.

Caticlan airport closed after plane conks out on runway

The Caticlan airport was closed again after a 19-seater Seair passenger plane got stuck on the runway when one of its tires burst upon landing on Monday, airport authorities said.


The Seair plane did not carry passengers when the incident occurred 7:34 a.m. Monday, and all three crewmembers on board—the pilot, the co-pilot and a mechanic—were safe, Caticlan airport manager Mecine Torres told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview.

The Southeast Asian Airlines flight DG 705 burst its left tire while landing at Runway 06 of the Caticlan airport at around 7:30 a.m., said reports reaching the Manila International Airport Authority, which operates the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals.

Piloted by Captain James Bihasa with a certain First Officer Cuaresma as co-pilot, the plane left NAIA at around 6:30 a.m. to pick up passengers in Caticlan. The third passenger is an unnamed flight mechanic.
The Let 410 aircraft with registration number 2928 has a seating capacity of 19 passengers.

At the NAIA, at least 15 flights to Caticlan airport were delayed and diverted Monday morning to nearby Kalibo airport.

Mecine said the airport was supposed to resume its operations sometime afternoon of Monday after the plane was towed to the ramp.

The Caticlan airport was previously closed several times after planes either overshot or undershot the runway on landing.

Air Philippines resumed its flights to Boracay on December 1 while that of Cebu Pacific returned on March 1.
Air travelers may view what further flights may be affected at the MIAA website (www.manila-airport.net).

Category 2 could permanently damage tourism

While we continue to struggle with our economy that has become largely dependent on remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers, the downgrading of the Philippines’ rating to Category 2 by the US Federal Aviation Administration more than two years ago could permanently damage the tourism industry. It can be recalled that in the November 2007 audit conducted by the FAA, the country’s civil aviation system was found to be seriously noncompliant with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Unfortunately, the Category 2 rating gave the public a false impression that Philippine carriers like PAL are not safe – when in fact, the deficiencies (operating regulations, technical guidance, licensing and certifications) were more procedural and technical in nature. FAA found that the then-Air Transportation Office did not have authority “under existing national regulations to conduct appropriate safety oversight functions.” ATO’s record-keeping and filing system was in disarray; it lacked necessary equipment, personnel and technical procedures to certify the airworthiness of carriers; employees conducting airman licensing tests do not have appropriate training and qualifications. Likewise, there was no training program for basic areas of inspector functions. Worse, the FAA could not identify who in the ATO was fully trained. In short, personnel were doing jobs which they were not qualified or trained for.

The government scrambled to restore the country’s Category 1 rating by scrapping the ATO and creating the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in 2008. Unfortunately, ICAO’s recent issuance of a significant safety concern or SSC rating – putting the Philippines in the same category as 13 other countries like Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Rwanda – again gave the wrong impression that Philippine carriers are not safe when in fact, all these failures have nothing to do with an airline’s operations or its safety record. In fact, PAL, the country’s flag carrier, adheres to international aviation standards and is the only Philippine carrier to pass the International Air Transport Association (IATA) operational safety audit.

I was told by the president of PAL, our good friend Jimmy Bautista, that CAAP inspectors must have the necessary qualifications and the length of experience to do their jobs competently. CAAP was created as an autonomous and centralized civil aviation authority, but a DOTC circular ruled that current inspectors – who presumably were holdovers from the defunct ATO and found unqualified under standards set by the ICAO – are protected by the Civil Service Commission.

The best solution is for CAAP to hire qualified consultants to expedite the lifting of the Category 2 rating and address ICAO’s SSC rating. This is what Indonesia did after it was given a Category 2 rating. This adversely affected its flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, because it had to suspend flights to Los Angeles. Late last year, the US government invited the carrier to reopen direct flights to the US after the Indonesian aviation rating was upgraded to Category 1. CAAP should follow Indonesia’s example and help our airlines that are already suffering from the global financial crisis like PAL and even Cebu Pacific. What is strange however was the manner by which the FAA downgrade was implemented. The audit was done in July 2007, followed by a written warning to ATO in October indicating that the issuance of the Category 2 rating was imminent. At the time, Hawaiian Airlines was filing for a Foreign Air Carrier Permit with the Civil Aeronautics Board to operate to Manila from Honolulu. According to sources, the FAA officially issued the downgrade in January 2008 – after Hawaiian Airlines obtained a temporary operating permit from CAB. Worse, the FAA waited until after PAL pushed through with its purchase of the Boeing 777s which were specifically targeted for the long range US market. As it is, PAL’s planned flight increase to Honolulu and other US destinations have been put on hold – making the airline a clear victim of the FAA downgrade. Sources say the cost to PAL alone is $100 million a year since 2007, so you can just imagine the damage not only on the flag carrier but on the tourism industry as a whole, especially with news that Australia and the European Union are planning to issue a similar downgrade to the Philippines’ aviation system. I really don’t understand why government has failed to act quickly in lifting the FAA downgrade and protect this country from unnecessary aggravation. This is no longer about politics but our own pride as a country and the protection of our interest as a nation, which is why government should strengthen the mandate of civil aviation authorities.

As a matter of fact, I myself have a first-hand experience regarding safety violations. Last weekend, we were flying by helicopter en route to Batangas and avoided – by just a few seconds – a collision with a seaplane piloted by some American named Mike O’Farrell, registered under Subic Seaplane Inc. with the devilish number RPC-666. There is no question the fixed-wing aircraft had no business flying on a helicopter route at that altitude. O’Farrell is 66 years old and is definitely beyond the age limit for flying a commercial aircraft. The irony is, he’s even claiming to be close to the US Embassy. So what?!? He can be close to Obama – who the hell cares! We’re talking about lives here, particularly that of the tourists he flies. There have allegedly been numerous complaints against this old pilot about culpable violations regarding air safety rules and regulations but surprisingly, he’s still allowed to fly. Ironically, we’re given a Category 2 rating by the US FAA but here’s an American violating our own air safety rules.

It is totally unacceptable for a foreigner to blatantly ignore and violate our air safety regulations. Civil aviation authorities must act on this matter immediately because the next time this over-aged pilot flies on the wrong altitude, he may kill 300 people on a 747. This is only one of the safety problems that aviation officials must address quickly – and not react when lives have already been lost.

Read the Article here ..

Palace executive introduced Kuwait company, admits Clark official

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga , Philippines  – The chairman of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) yesterday said a Malacañang official “introduced” Al Mal, a subsidiary of Kuwait’s Al Kharafi, as contractor for the $100-million new terminal project at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here.
In a telephone interview, Nestor Mangio, however, did not identify the Palace official who endorsed Al Mal but stressed that “nothing has been signed yet precisely because we could not agree on the terms of reference (TOR).”
This, even as the CIAC board of directors met the other day to give Al Mal seven days within which to accept CIAC’s TOR which exempts Terminal 1 from being taken over by the Kuwaiti firm.
The CIAC’s TOR provided space for the signatures of Mangio and Loay Al Kharafi, identified in the document as the chairman of Al Mal Investment Co.

Contract being rushed?

The contract, according to sources, is allegedly being rushed so it would not be caught by the election ban on the signing of government contracts on March 26. 
Under the proposed TOR, Al Mal, identified as a vehicle of the M.A. Kharafi Group based in Kuwait, “shall develop the Clark civil aviation complex and the more or less 1,500 hectares land adjacent at a minimum investment capitol of $1.2 billion through a joint venture company with CIAC.”   When President Arroyo made an official visit to the Middle East last year, Malacañang issued a news bulletin reporting that the President had secured a $1.2-billion investment from Al Kharafi for a joint venture to build a new airport terminal and aviation city here.
The proposed TOR stated that “it has been agreed that for Phase One, the joint venture company shall develop Terminal 2 at a total investment cost of $100 million with a capacity for seven million passengers per year.”

‘Onerous’ proposal

No one else from CIAC could explain why Al Mal is again being considered for the project despite its proposal being junked in December 2008 by the CIAC’s Joint Venture Special Committee (JVSC) as being “onerous.”
Al Mal has been negotiating for its own version of the TOR, which allocates to itself the sole authority to develop all areas within a 50-mile radius of the airport, as well as full control of the existing Terminal 1, which the CIAC is currently upgrading. 
Al Mal reportedly offered only $20 million for its takeover of Terminal 1 for 45 years, renewable for another 25 years, amid projections that the terminal could generate an income of $120 million during the period.
Apart from Terminal 2, Al Mal also intends to build a third terminal for the DMIA.
CIAC employees went out of their offices the other day to hold a noise barrage to protest Al Mal’s almost full takeover of the aviation complex here, as they feared for their jobs. 
Mangio, however, said he later explained to the employees that part of the negotiations with Al Mal included their continuing employment.
“Only employees of the existing Terminal 1 would be affected,” he added.
Mangio recalled that the Palace “introduced” Al Mal to CIAC executives sometime in 2008, adding that CIAC president Victor Jose Luciano was present then.
Luciano could not be contacted yesterday as he was with some guests.
Mangio said he has been reporting to both President Arroyo and former Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila on developments on Al Mal’s bid to get the terminal projects here.
Favila, he said, was the Cabinet member in charge of overseeing foreign investments in the country.
“We had been looking for investors since 2008. There were Chinese, American, Filipino contractors but they all failed to comply with the requirements,” Mangio recalled. Al Mal was among those which failed, he admitted.
Last year, the CIAC, however, again received “unsolicited proposals” that included those from Al Mal. “Al Mal was chosen as the best. We were following all government rules and regulations.”

Rejected anew

A CIAC source, however, said the CIAC board again rejected Al Mal’s proposals only two weeks ago.
Al Mal has reportedly linked up with a local firm called PRIME to comply with the law limiting foreign ownership of public facilities in the country, to justify the requirement of a 70-30 percent joint venture. PRIME was reportedly set up by three businessmen, including Batangas Rep. Hermenigildo Mandanas.
Mandanas and Mangio were among those who were with the President in her visit to Davos, Switzerland last year, sources said.
Sometime in April last year, CIAC expressed “high hopes” on the completion of Terminal 2 amid a proposal from the Pacific Avia Group Inc. (PAGI) which was then being considered.
No CIAC official could immediately be contacted to explain what happened to PAGI.  

‘Midnight deal’

Reacting to the Clark airport issue, opposition senatorial candidate Joey de Venecia yesterday advised President Arroyo to “back off” from the “midnight deal” on the new DMIA terminal.
De Venecia, one of the senatorial bets of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, said Mrs. Arroyo should leave the project to the next administration.
“There appears to be something fishy about the proposal to allow a Kuwaiti firm to take over the airport project,” he said.
“Insiders are confirming that as early as 2008, the CIAC’s Joint Venture Special Committee had already rejected Al Mal’s proposal as onerous. The backroom maneuvers to award the deal to the Kuwaiti firm smacks of a midnight contract aimed as lining the greedy pockets of unscrupulous Palace brokers,” De Venecia said.
He said Mrs. Arroyo “will do well to tell her boys to back off from this deal. They should not forget that the Clark International Airport is dedicated to the memory of her father. They cannot sully his memory with a midnight transaction that may end up to be grossly overpriced and absolutely questionable.”

Cebu Pacific eyes solo slot at T3

BUDGET AIRLINE CEBU PACIFIC WANTS TO be the only carrier in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) terminal 3 by 2013.
The Gokongwei-led carrier said it plans to grow its passenger base to over 13 million, 12 million in Manila, in the next three years, indicating that airport facilities need to be expanded to prevent any potential squeeze on tourism and trade.
Fueling this growth is the company’s planned acquisition of 10 new Airbus A320 aircraft in the next three years.
“Cebu Pacific’s rapid expansion was substantially helped by its transfer to terminal 3 in August 2008, when nobody else wanted to use it. We could not have grown this much had we stayed at the old domestic terminal, which has a capacity of only two million per year,” Cebu Pacific vice president for brand and marketing Candice Iyog said in a statement.
Terminal 3, she said, provided the space, convenience, and opportunity for the airline to really grow and serve its passengers. “Transiting passengers, for instance, could catch their connecting flights with ease since our domestic and international operations are under one roof, as are other airlines, which put everyone on equal footing,” she said.
“Our population is growing and Asia, including the Philippines, has been tagged as a growth area. We believe that our airports, being the welcoming gateway into our country, should be adequate now and in the future,” she added.
The Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) has said it plans to spend P40 billion in the next 10 years to expand Manila’s airport capacity to keep up with rising air traffic.
Miaa assistant general manager Tirso G. Serrano said that while Cebu Pacific’s operations alone will eventually be all that terminal 3 can take, the airport authority also had to think about the needs of other airlines flying out of Manila.
Manila’s current airport system, made up of three Naia terminals and the domestic terminal, have a total capacity of 33 million passengers a year. Last year, 24.5 million travelers passed through these four airports.
Last year, Cebu Pacific said it carried over 7.3 million passenger. This is 29-percent higher than its 5.7 million passengers the year before. This year, Cebu Pacific expects to carry more than 10 million passengers on the domestic and regional fronts.