NAIA records highest international passenger volume

Passengers at the check-in area in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) wait for an announcement after the cancellation of some flights in the NAIA terminal 3 due to technical issues at the air navigation facilities of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on January 1, 2023.

STAR / Edd Gumban

Rudy Santos - The Philippine Star 

MANILA, Philippines — The country posted last April its biggest number of international and domestic air travelers since the 2020 pandemic lockdown, with the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) alone reporting 1,677,779 international passengers and 9,089 international flights.

In a statement, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which manages the NAIA, said the figures were more than double the 663,824 international passengers and 4,494 international flights handled by the country’s premier airport in the same month last year.

“Summer is indeed a popular time for vacation and international travel, not only for Filipinos taking advantage of airlines’ promotional fares or using travel funds for flights they couldn’t use due to the pandemic, but also for our international visitors wanting to see the Philippines,” MIAA officer-in-charge Bryan Co said.

“After more than two years of closed borders, we expect the momentum of recovery to continue for tourism and the aviation industry,” Co added, noting that NAIA welcomed 1,178,461 passengers overall in the first 10 days of April as travelers took advantage of the long Holy Week break.

Combined with figures for domestic flights, NAIA registered a total of 3,666,503 passengers and 22,816 flights in April this year.

This represents a 50 percent rise from the 2,447,795 passengers in April 2022 and 86 percent of the 4,261,352 passengers in April 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.

Flight movement last month also increased by 28 percent from the 17,774 flights in the same month last year. The figure is equivalent to 98 percent of the 23,327 flights in April 2019.

MIAA also recorded an average of 75.20 percent flight on-time performance (OTP) last April, an improvement from the OTP rating of 71.24 percent in the same month last year.

Earlier, the Department of Tourism (DOT) reported that 1,715,757 foreign tourists arrived in the Philippines from January to April 22 this year, with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Air travel is seen to further increase despite the reported uptick in COVID-19 positivity rate, especially in Metro Manila.

Of the foreign travelers who arrived during the period, more than 320,000 came from the United States, the DOT said.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco revealed the data during the recent launch of the agency’s “Bisita Be My Guest” or BBM-G program, a referral and incentive program, at the Philippine Travel Fair in Los Angeles, California.

The program aims to bring in more foreigners by tapping Filipinos, especially those based abroad, who have foreign spouses or friends.

Those who bring in foreign visitors can win condominium units, airplane tickets and holiday packages in select destinations.

The DOT, along with the Department of Migrant Workers and the Tourism Promotions Board, brought the BBM-G program to the US “to give opportunities to fellow Filipinos to become ambassadors for the Philippines,” Frasco said.

Meanwhile, Frasco also said they hope Filipino-American beauty queen R’Bonney Gabriel, Miss Universe 2022, will boost the country’s tourism campaign by visiting the country’s popular tourist destinations.

Frasco met with Gabriel and Khun Anne Jakrajutatip, owner of the Miss Universe franchise, during a dinner hosted by Tatler Philippines editor-in-chief Anton San Diego at the Manila House Private Club in Taguig last Thursday, the agency said in a statement last Thursday.

“Sec. Frasco also discussed with (Gabriel) and (Jakrajutatip) a tourism initiative for (Gabriel) to visit the different islands of the Philippines to encourage tourists to visit the country,” the DOT wrote.

She also thanked Gabriel, whose father hails from Malate, Manila, for “always carrying with you the heart of being a Filipina, making the country proud.”

Aside from Gabriel and Jakrajutatip, Frasco also met with celebrities such as cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo and husband Hayden Kho, events host Tim Yap and Miss Universe 1973 and Cultural Center of the Philippines chair Margie Moran-Floirendo.

Gabriel is in the country to witness the crowning of the Philippines’ representative to the Miss Universe 2023 beauty pageant.

The MUFG Bank Ltd. of Japan earlier said tourism receipts in the Philippines could double this year, as the sector benefits from the return of Chinese tourists.

Jeff Ng, senior currency analyst at MUFG, said in its ASEAN tourism outlook titled “The Return of Chinese Tourists in 2023,” that travel receipts in the Philippines could hit anywhere from $6 billion to $8 billion this year.

The country’s gross travel receipts hit $1.26 billion in the third quarter of last year, 52 percent of the third quarter 2019 levels.

“Given current trends, we anticipate broader upsides in 2023. Gross travel receipts may hit $6 billion to $8 billion in 2023, higher than an expected $4 billion in 2022 and catching up to $9.8 billion in 2019,” Ng said.

Dangerous heat index observed in 14 PH areas

BY CHARIE MAE F. ABARCA

  

Fourteen areas in the Philippines sizzled with a dangerous heat index on Saturday, May 13, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) disclosed.

Public warned against heat stroke as heat index hits searing 41°c in Dagupan'

The humid weather condition prevails across the archipelago following the onset of warm and dry season in March. Amid this, several areas in the country continue to experience dangerous heat.

PAGASA on Saturday said 14 areas logged a dangerous heat index. These areas are the following: Butuan City, Agusan del Norte (45°C); CLSU Muñoz, Nueva Ecija (42°C); Cotabato City, Maguindanao (42°C); Dagupan City, Pangasinan (43°C); Davao City, Davao del Sur (43°C); Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte (46°C); Iba, Zambales (42°C); Laguindingan Airport, Misamis Oriental (42°C); Laoag City, Ilocos Norte (43°C); Maasin, Southern Leyte (42°C); NAIA Pasay City, Metro Manila (42°C); Roxas City, Capiz (42°C); San Jose, Occidental Mindoro (42°C); and Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur (45°C).

Heat index refers to the apparent heat that humans perceive. The state weather bureau explained that heat indices between 42°C and 51°C are on the “dangerous” threshold as these could cause heat cramps, heat exhaustion, or heat stroke with continued sun exposure.

Are Filipinos really friendly?

 

Bryon Kubik

I found them to be warm friendly people. I’ve been in the Philippines several times. One thing I found very interesting. It really didn’t matter much whether they had money or were very poor, they were happy with what they had. The family was all that really mattered. When the old could no longer work they were cared for by the family. The people I got to know, even if they had the money, would rarely spend money on themselves. The went home for the family. One good example is a young lady I met. She said she was saving to buy a washing machine for her mom. Every penny she had was saved for that. I was with her when she bought it and gave it to her mom. I don’t know who was prouder or happier. Mother or daughter. I will never forget that touching moment.

I don’t recall meeting any that I would say were unfriendly. We were told that certain islands were off limits to us because they knew that outsiders were not welcome.

Miss Universe PH 2023: Krishnah Gravidez, Samantha Panlilio, Klyza Castro advance to Top 10

Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Top 10. Image: YouTube/ABS-CBN Entertainment

By: Hannah Mallorca

Baguio’s Krishnah Gravidez, who clinched the Best in Swimsuit award, was among the lucky candidates who made it to the Top 10 of the Miss Universe Philippines 2023 pageant.

Pageant fans at the Mall of Asia Arena burst into cheers as the Top 10 candidates were announced on Saturday, May 13.

Here are the Miss Universe Philippines 2023’s Top 10:

Michelle Dee (Makati)

Pauline Amelinckx (Bohol)

Klyza Castro (Davao Oriental)

Krishnah Gravidez (Baguio)

CJ Opiaza (Zambales)

Jan Marie Borbon (Bacolod)

Jannarie Zarzoso (Agusan Del Norte)

Rein Carrascal (Sorsogon)

Airissh Ramos (Eastern Samar)

Samantha Panlilio (Cavite)

Notable candidates who did not advance to the next round were pageant veteran Emmanuelle Camcam of Cebu province and former UST courtside reporter Angelique Manto of Pampanga.

The Top 18 candidates pranced on the Miss Universe Philippines 2023 stage in their striking light blue swimsuits prior to the announcement of the Top 10.

Plastic in the air we breathe

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:03 AM May 14, 2023

There’s something in the air that should worry the public and it’s not just the pollution coming from motor vehicles and industrial facilities. Scientists call it SAMP or suspended atmospheric microplastic.

A Philippine study has recently established, for the first time, the presence of SAMP in the atmosphere making it more imperative for the government to tighten already existing measures to improve the air quality and reduce the amount of plastic waste in the environment.

The study, “Breathing plastics in Metro Manila, Philippines: Presence of suspended atmospheric microplastics in ambient air,” investigated the air quality of 16 cities and one municipality and found that all sampling areas had the presence of SAMPs with fiber as the most common microplastic, specifically polyester (74 percent).

Among all the areas surveyed, Muntinlupa and Mandaluyong cities had the highest concentration of SAMP. The study estimated that an adult person in Metro Manila has the potential to inhale about one SAMP under normal minute ventilation if exposed for about 99.0 to 131.57 hours. It defines normal minute ventilation as the amount of air a person would take in a minute, which is roughly around five to eight liters per minute.

Microplastics are tiny plastic particles measuring less than five millimeters in diameter — imagine the size of a sesame seed or smaller. You may have used them through health and beauty products (microbeads), clothing, and other textiles (microfiber), or spotted them on a beach as those tiny, colorful plastic bits that have been broken down from larger plastics. But because they are plastics, they take hundreds or even thousands of years to decompose.

This is a serious problem for a country like the Philippines, which has been tagged as one of the world’s biggest sources of plastic pollution, producing over one-third of the global oceanic plastic waste. Plastic wastes ranging from product sachets, food wrappers, grocery bags, etc., choke the rivers, waterways, and seas and may find their way back to humans through the food they eat.

A 2020 study revealed that nearly half of rabbitfish samples from Dumaguete and neighboring areas had microplastics in their digestive systems increasing the likelihood that other local fish catch also contains the harmful plastics.

Now, they’re also in the air we breathe.

Studies have already been made for years on the health effects of ingesting microplastics with research in the 1990s pointing to a probable connection between plastic fibers and lung cancer. Several studies have also shown that particle pollution has long been known to damage lung tissues which could lead to cancer, asthma attacks, and other health complications.

At this point, little is known about SAMP in the local setting and further studies must be made to see the full extent of its impact on the environment and what direction to take to minimize its harm. This is as much a problem of manufacturing, waste management, and poverty, as it is of pollution.

Three years ago, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said air quality monitoring was a top priority to ensure that the environment and public health are protected from the dangers of air pollution. In its 2021 report, however, there was no mention of SAMP with its air monitoring more focused on pollutants from vehicles and industries. The DENR must now look into SAMP as a critical element in its air quality monitoring.

Knowing the air quality as well as the volume of specific pollutants present in the atmosphere of any given area could help the DENR in its surveillance and monitoring of erring industries, businesses, and local government units (LGUs). This is crucial information in the implementation of Republic Act No. 11898 or the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022, which, among others, places the burden of collection, sorting, and recycling on plastic packaging producers with assets of over P100 million.

Before RA 11898, the responsibility of waste management has fallen largely on LGUs but many of them lack the capacity to do so as seen in how the country’s problem of garbage continues to mount despite clean-up efforts. This new law could be a breakthrough in finally and significantly reducing plastic waste through its “polluter pays” principle imposing stiff fines on big businesses that do not clean the plastic waste that they produce. But its success will once more depend on implementation—always a weak spot in Philippine governance.

Despite the name, microplastics are a major pollutant and, therefore, a major problem. If not studied and addressed urgently, they will pose a significant threat to the health of both the environment and the public. The government must act now before Filipinos pay the high price for toxic air.