Can Clark or Bulacan airport fix NAIA woes?

By: Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines — Senators have renewed their call for the development of easily accessible international gateways that can serve as alternatives to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which was paralyzed for almost two days last week after a Chinese passenger jet blocked the main runway.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, vice chairman of the Senate committee on public services, said the NAIA is already handling 42 million passengers a year or way beyond its annual capacity of 30 million passengers.

“Another airport that can be considered a better alternative and more modern than NAIA is a long-term solution. If, God forbid, another accident happens, and we don’t have a twin airport, what then? The consequences could be worse than what we saw,” he said.

image: https://video.unrulymedia.com/native/images/in-art-close-icon-128x128-16481b937f87b244a645cdbef0d930f8.png

–– ADVERTISEMENT ––

image: https://video.unrulymedia.com/native/images/unmiss-sound-button-muted-e74d67a0c85c3548f07d7564782a269c.svg

San Miguel Corp., which has proposed to develop a new four-runway airport—dubbed the New Manila International Airport (NMIA)—in Bulacan said it could commence operations in as early as six years upon approval of the $15-billion project.

The business group Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) is also calling on the government to fast-track the approval of a private sector proposal to upgrade the NAIA to address congestion—this being the most cost-effective and fastest solution to the severe congestion at the Manila airport.

The NAIA Consortium—composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital, AC Infrastructure Holdings, Alliance Global Group, Asia’s Emerging Dragon, Filinvest Development, JG Summit Holdings and Metro Pacific Investments—has secured an original proponent status (OPS) for its offer to upgrade the main international gateway for about P106 billion for a concession period of 15 years.

An OPS would give the consortium the right to match offers from other parties when a Swiss challenge is conducted for the project.

Ejercito said it is vital that the new airport or the new terminal at the Clark International Airport (CIA) should be accompanied by an intermodal transport connection terminal, including a high-speed railway.

He said the construction of phase 1 of the new terminal at Clark—budgeted with P17.6 billion—is now 15 percent complete and expected to open in 2020.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III urged the government to “go full blast” with the development of other air transport hubs such as the CIA, stressing that: “We can’t dillydally anymore. I made the same call in 2016. Let’s not wait for another airplane incident which hassled thousands of passengers to realize there should be an urgent and comprehensive government plan to decongest the NAIA.”

He said the NAIA can serve southern Metro Manila and Southern Luzon to Bicol while Clark can address the needs of passengers from northern Metro Manila and northern Philippines, and that both hubs may share the handling of travel and logistics flow to the Visayas and Mindanao.

The underutilized airport in the former US military base at Clark in Pampanga has an area of 2,367 hectares, compared to NAIA’s 700 hectares.

Pimentel pointed out that with NAIA’s single runway, flight delays average 45 minutes per day aside from monstrous traffic jams to and from the airport.

He noted that Clark could eventually service “flight transfers of international passengers, such as our OFWs, who need to go home to their families in the Visayas and Mindanao.”

“If you’re going to the province anyway via a connecting flight and you don’t need to stay in Manila, Clark International could be a better transfer point. Proposals such as these can work and should be tried,” he said, adding that the development of Clark should be a core component of the government’s Build, Build, Build program.

As the upgrade of NAIA is being undertaken, the MAP said a concurrent expansion of Clark would ensure that future air traffic bottlenecks are prevented.

“The MAP urges the adoption of an airport complementation strategy whereby the existing NAIA and Clark international airports are developed and operated as an integrated system with the two airports complementing each other, ideally with an express rail link in place,” the group said, adding that it opposes the closure of NAIA as this would be a “very drastic and counterproductive move.” – With Louella Desiderio, Iris Gonzales

Bullet scam victims cleared

No intention to violate law, Abaya tells Senate

by Mario Casayuran, Manila Bulletin
November 13, 2015

Share8 Tweet10 Share1 Email0 Share929

Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph A. Abaya yesterday conceded that persons, mostly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), arrested for alleged possession of bullets in what is now dubbed the “tanim-bala” (bullet-planting) scam at the airports “are not guilty and had no intent to violate the law.”

In an effort to address the tanim-bala incidents, Abaya called on the senators to carve out from the proposed 2016 Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) outlay a budget for the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) for the purchase of security equipment, particularly closed-circuit TV (CCTV).

image: http://www.mb.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Ricochet1.jpg

It was bared that airport personnel had demanded that White should fork out over P30,000 to settle his case, but he declined.

White’s family were on their way to Coron, Palawan, for their missionary work when he was allegedly victimized by airport screeners.

Another victim, Gloria Ortinez, 56, of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, had to spend two nights in a detention cell before she was released by the Pasay City Prosecutors Office after Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida V. Rued-Acosta cited a Supreme Court decision that the charges must be dropped because there is no intent to possess and that the bullets are not intended to be used.

Four others accused of the same tanim-bala raps were released, she added.

Acosta stressed that the tanim-bala operation must be stopped but “the devil’s advocates” are there at the airport.

LACK OF COMPASSION

Sen. Grace Poe said what the national government lacks is compassion and common sense and that coordination and leadership must be shown by MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado, who was given a 70 percent passing grade by Abaya.

Poe also questioned why the National Civil Aviation Security Council, the single authority for transportation system in the country, has not yet been convened by Abaya despite the bullet scam.

Abaya vowed to convene the council to address the tanim-bala.

The passing grade drew an angry reaction from Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. and Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter S. Cayetano.

Honrado claimed during the hearing that he has no control over aviation personnel who man the x-ray machines at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Susan “Toots” Ople, OFW advocate, bewailed the failure or neglect of airport officials to tap the services of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to help the tanim-bala victims as these agencies have desks at the airport.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto said these alleged extortion activities damage NAIA’s reputation, giving an impression that the facility is gradually becoming a major extortion hub of the country.

“Extortion schemes and other forms of misconduct undermine the efforts made by the Philippine government in curbing corruption and in maximizing the Philippines’ potential for business and tourism.

ORTINEZ FLYING TO HK

As this developed, Ortinez will fly to Hong Kong tomorrow in attempts to regain her employment as a household service worker (HSW) following the dismissal of  her illegal possession of ammunition case over the “tannin-bala.

Ople said she will be accompanying Ortinez to convince her employer to rehire the 56-year-old OFW.

“We are headed to HK this Saturday so that she (Ortinez) can personally talk to her employer,” Ople said.

Ortinez will also be accompanied by Labor Undersecretary Ciriaco Lagunzad III to help with her cause.

“The POLO (Philippine Overseas Labor Office) already sent a letter to Gloria’s employer, but this Saturday Usec Lagunzad will be accompanying Glo to HK to directly talk to her employer,” OWWA Administrator Rebecca Calzado said.

Abaya assured Ortinez that he would write a letter or call her Hongkong employer to take her back after the charges lodged against her had been dismissed.

“I will craft a letter. I will call her employer …whatever Nanay Gloria asks me to do. No reservation,” Abaya told senators during the hearing.

Ortinez was detained by authorities at the NAIA last month after a bullet was allegedly found in her luggage.

She, however, denied the ammo belonged to her, claiming she was a victim of the tanim-bala scam.

The ordeal prevented her from immediately returning to her employer making her worry she might be replaced.

MEDIA BAN HIT

With the public outcry over the tanim-bala issue, airport authorities ban mediamen fromm certain areas.

The move prompted Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero to assail airport authorities.

Escudero said NAIA officials should give members of duly registered media entities access to areas where they can exercise their duties without intervening in security personnel’s work.

The senator made the call following reports that journalists covering Manila’s international airports are now prohibited from going to certain areas of NAIA Terminal 3.

NAIA reporters complained that the restriction on their access came only in the wake of reports on the alleged extortion scheme that has victimized overseas Filipino workers, tourists and travellers on business.

“At a time like this when we are all trying to find the truth behind this deplorable ‘tanim-bala’ modus operandi, we need the media to be free to do its work of gathering information, examining our systems, and uncovering the wrongs that may be hidden from sight,” Escudero said.

Besides, NAIA personnel and officials of the MIAA should not feel threatened by the presence of prying eyes if they have nothing to hide, the senator stressed.

“Lagi naman nating sinasabi na ang walang tinatago, hindi natatakot masilip, (We’ve always believed that those who got nothing to hide are not afraid to be scrutinized),”  Escudero said.

“We enjoy a democracy that upholds and protects the people’s right to know. Curtailing the media’s freedom to do the important work of exposing the truth cannot be justified, especially in this particular case,” Escudero said.

CHARGES MULLED

Meanwhile, DUMPER Partylist, formerly known as the DUMPER Philippine Taxi Driver Association, is planning to sue tanim-bala accuser Julius Niel Habana for wrongfully incriminating taxi driver Ricky Milagrosa.

Milagrosa was driving Vigil taxi with license plate UVK 190 on the eve of October 29, 2015, when he was accused by Habana of planting a bullet in his friend’s luggage.

Habana posted about the incident on his Facebook page, saying, “Muntik ng madali ang kasamahan kung seaman papuntang NAIA, buti napansin niya (na may) nilagay ang driver sa bag (niya) nag (text) sakin kung anong gawin niya,nag advise ako na wag ng tumuloy sa airport dumaan nalng sa boardng house ko. (My friend and fellow seaman almost got into trouble on the way to NAIA. Good thing he noticed that the driver placed something on his bag, he texted me asking for help, and I advised him not to go to the airport and instead come to my boarding house).”

However, when the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) conducted a hearing regarding this matter, only Milagrosa and his operator attended to state their case. Habana, on the other hand, refused to answer any of the board’s attempts to contact him. (With reports from Hannah L. Torregoza, Czarina Nicole O. Ong, and Samuel P. Medenilla)

What an airport mess

INTROSPECTIVE By Tony Katigbak (The Philippine Star) 

 1  8 googleplus1  0 

We truly must be a laughing stock all over the world right now. Last week I wrote about the laglag bala scam in my column and the plot continues to thicken with at least one person being caught with a bullet in the bag every day since then. How ridiculous does it look that everyone in our international airport is walking around toting bags and suitcases wrapped in plastic and tape just to prevent potential bullets from being planted. Looking at videos and photos of the airport these days is just laughable. We’re the subjects of memes the world over and at the end of the day the joke is really on us.

It’s bad enough that we have already dropped in rank when it comes to places tourists want to visit for business or pleasure in Southeast Asia, we are also making ourselves look like fools. Sure we have addressed other issues surrounding the potential reasons for all these airport bullet findings, but the fact remains, we have yet to actually do something about it. Which is honestly a pity because not only are tourists not opting to come to the Philippines, but our very own balikbayans are afraid to do so well and end up passing on chances to be with their families and loved ones this holiday season.

Some people have said that some Filipino passengers bring a bullet with them as anting-anting or a way to ward off misfortune. While that may have been true before, I honestly believe there has been sufficient information spread all over the world (this bullet story has landed us on several major international news portals and channels) to prevent this from happening anymore. People know they can’t bring a bullet with them to the airport, so why are so many bullets still being found on a daily basis? I’ve heard that sometimes catching two or three passengers a day is normal. That should not be the case.

Personally I feel frustrated, , as many do, that it has taken this long and has required this much attention to take care of something that should not be happening in the first place. Yes, we are reading about government officials condemning the situation, but what are they doing about it? According to the news, DOTC Secretary Joseph Abaya has said that they do not have sufficient evidence that a syndicate is behind the scam. On the other hand though, according to the National Bureau of Investigation their probe leads them to strongly believe a syndicate is present.

Reports claim several airport screeners and security personnel are being suspended or restricted from work until a further investigation, and while it’s a step, I can’t help but feel that it should not be this hard to put an end to this craziness. Perhaps it’s necessary to remove everyone connected and start from scratch? I truly feel bad for those who are honestly just trying to do their jobs and are not involved in this ridiculous scam, but we cannot let this go on any longer. It’s affecting the Philippines on a global level and if it does not stop it’s only to get worse and worse.

* * *

Opinion ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

I watched with interest as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou met and shook hands last Saturday in Singapore, bridging a gap that has been between them for over 60 years in the wake of China’s civil war. While the historical meeting (which was closed to the public for over an hour) is a good first step there is obviously still a lot of work to be done. There is just so much bad blood between the two countries that no one can expect that to change overnight or after just one handshake.

However, I am optimistic. I know that we, as an ASEAN nation, could do better if we truly learned to work together instead of against one another. I know the Philippines has its own problems with China, but as I mentioned in previous columns, I truly believe this can be worked out diplomatically and peacefully if we all do our part. There is just so much to be gained from smooth inter-country relations.

In a previous column I also mentioned that one of the benefits of working together will be the Beijing led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). This welcome institution is set to be operational by year’s end, though it’s looking more like that will happen next year. I believe that this facility will truly help Asian nations be less dependent on the World Bank and on the European Union. At the very least, it will make interest rates far more competitive and fair for everyone. Currently supported by 57 countries, with more to come onboard, AIIB will no doubt help improve the international banking and loaning community.

- See more at: http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2015/11/11/1520640/what-airport-mess#sthash.j6AR0nJ8.dpuf

Airport CCTV Rehab Delayed Anew

By Raoul Esperas, ABS-CBN

MANILA -- Rehabilitation of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has been delayed anew, after the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) disqualified two winning bidders for the P450-million CCTV rehabilitation project.

Ret. Gen. Vicente Guerzon, senior assistant general manager of MIAA, in an interview with ABS-CBN News, said one winning bidder for the CCTV rehabilitation project was disqualified by the MIAA Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).

The second winning bidder was likewise disqualified by MIAA-BAC due to technical reasons, as well as for failing a post-evaluation check.

MIAA, under the administration of General Manager Jose Angel Honrado, initiated the CCTV rehabilitation project more than four years ago, after airport authorities discovered that most of the cameras installed in the airport complex are either defective or are not working at all.

The rehabilitation project also aims to upgrade old black and white CCTV cameras to newer models.

Airport incidents that were not captured by CCTV cameras include the brawl involving Ramon Tulfo and actors Raymart Santiago and Claudine Baretto, as well as the killing of a local executive.

Guerzon explained that the third winning bidder is now undergoing post evaluation check by MIAA BAC. However, sources disclosed that it may also be disqualified for failing to meet the technical specifications required by airport authorities for all cameras to be installed within the airport complex.

Guerzon said that under the terms of reference, a winning bidder will be given 240 days to complete the installation of cameras in NAIA terminals.

A total of 747 cameras will initially be installed in all three terminals, most of which should be equipped with motion detection and thermal scanning to monitor unauthorized intrusions at the perimeter fence.

Guerzon said they do not expect the project to be finished within the remaining period under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.

There have been several cases of intrusions by alleged psychologically troubled persons at the airport complex, all of whom were able to penetrate the perimeter fence undetected.

Most of intruders were able to stray into the tarmac area, while the latest involved a person climbing the wheel of the landing gear of a departing plane at NAIA Terminal 1.

Manila-NAIA Terminal Fee Included in International Tickets

International passengers departing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will no longer have to line up to pay the terminal fee starting October 1. 

 

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said it will start implementing the integration of terminal fee in the cost of airline ticket next month. The one-year transition integration program would start on October 1, while the full implementation of the policy would be October 2015. 

In a notice, the MIAA said the P550 international passenger service charge or terminal fee should be integrated into the cost of the airline ticket at point of sale. The move is expected to ease the congestion problem at the departure area in NAIA. 

The DOTC has also ordered the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, the Clark International Airport Corporation and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to incorporate the terminal fee into the cost of tickets.

The MIAA reiterated that overseas Filipino workers, who have a certification from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration; pilgrims endorsed by the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos; athletes endorsed by the Philippine Sports Commission; and others authorized by the Office of the President, still enjoy exemptions from paying the terminal fee.

If the airline ticket is purchased online or abroad, these exempted passengers would have to pay terminal fee. Also, the exempted passengers should also pay the fee, if they cannot present the proper certification when tickets are purchased over the counter.

The MIAA, however, said the terminal fee could be refunded at NAIA if the passenger can present the overseas employment certificate, electronic ticket, boarding pass, and MIAA exemption certificate.

The "terminal fee" collected by the MIAA is used for the airport operations. Of the P550, the MIAA gets P390 for maintenance and upkeep, the national government gets P100 and aviation security gets P60.

The terminal fee for domestic flights has already been incorporated in airline tickets since August 2012.

Davao City International Airport's Anti-trafficking Desk

An anti-trafficking in persons desk was finally opened last July 20, 2012 at the Davao International Airport. The desk is initiated by the Regional Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking-Integrated Action Network.

According to Regional State Prosecutor Antonio Arrellano, concurrent Regional Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking chair, the establishment o an airport desk is an urgency with Davao City becoming more accessible to air travel being the primary entry and exit point in the region.

The desk will be manned by the Airport Security Group, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the regional Public Safety Battalion. It is aimed as mechanism of integration and coordination between all member agencies.

By June 2012 the network has rescued and intercepted 111 trafficking victims. About 94 victims were rescued in Davao City.

The launching ceremony was graced by the presence of City Mayor Sara Duterte who expressed full support to the initiatives. She also expressed the possibility of opening a similar anti-trafficking person's desk in the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal.