1. Wide-open Men’s Interclub race seen
MANILA, Philippines—For probably the first time in its history, the Philippine Airlines Interclub’s Men’s championship event promises to have a wide-open fight after the new handicapping system was implemented for the 64th edition of the country’s longest running and most prestigious amateur golf team event.
Talents that used to play for just one or two teams have now been evenly spread, making it anybody’s race when the Men’s event tees off February 23 at the Pueblo de Oro layout in Cagayan de Oro and the Del Monte course in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.
Canlubang is the defending champion in the event, but the Sugar Barons will have their work cut out for them after losing their nucleus to the pro ranks and World Amateur veteran Jessie Balasabas to the handicapping system.
Each team will now be required to form a 10-man squad with an overall handicap rating of 62, meaning that each player should carry a handicap of 6.2 according to their PAL Interclub stints.
Should a rookie see action, his home course handicap will be used.
Balasabas, owing to a good showing last year in the Sugar Barons’ fifth straight conquest in Negros, has a near-scratch PAL average, forcing Canlubang to look for other players in order to fit in the new system.
The Country Club, the second placer in each of the last two years, will field in practically the same lineup after some of its players posted high scores last year at the Marapara and Binitin courses in Negros.
Del Monte will have reigning Philippine Amateur champion Clyde Mondilla backstopping its squad as it aims to win its second Men’s title in its home turf, the same way it did in 2004 when the Interclub first visited Northern Mindanao.
The event actually gets going with the Seniors championship on February 16 where PAL president Jaime Bautista will hit the ceremonial drive.
Luisita is the defending champion and it aims to hold off perennial contender Canlubang and the ageless Tommy Manotoc from wresting back the crown the Barons last won in Davao.
This year’s competition is backed by platinum sponsors Boeing, Radio Mindanao Network, Business Mirror, and Interactive Broadcast Media (DWWW).
Major sponsors are People Asia, 105.1 Crossover, GE Aviation, and Traversing the Orient.
2. Pilot schools to be moved out of NAIA
Ramon S. Gutierrez, CAAP officer-in-charge, told reporters at the sidelines of an aviation summit last week the state-owned Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) will take charge in the implementation of the plan.
“The plan is still in principle and we are actually expecting resistance from the aviation school administrators, owners and students as most of them are foreigners. Most of the foreign students want to attend an aviation school near NAIA because they go to their home countries from time to time,” he said.
However, Mr. Gutierrez said allowing regional airports to house the aviation schools would translate to additional revenues as most of these airports have lower flight frequencies compared with NAIA.
“This will be part of CAAP and MIAA’s immediate plans. This will give these small airports additional revenues as they only generate revenues from air navigation fees for the airports,” he said.
Mr. Gutierrez said his agency broke even last year with close to P3 billion in revenues.
“Our revenues last year will be just enough for the maintenance but will not be enough for capital expenses. It will not be enough to maintain 86 airports. We will give the schools the preference which regional airport they would want to go to,” he said.
In July last year, CAAP ordered an audit of all 63 aviation schools in the country as the agency discovered that fake licenses had been issued to some student pilots.
3. The future is Clark
MANILA, Philippines – It feels good to be writing again. I’ve been away from this space for more than a year having played an active role in the last year’s elections, as any good citizen should.
Working in politics is a thankless job and in many levels, I’m glad I am back in the private sector. People working in government are fair game for criticisms, with or without basis.
The country has more than its fair share of critiques and their voices blare on tri-media and the internet. The negativity has a way of eating into the self esteem of the nation and I do not wish to add to it.
So as one privileged to have a voice through this corner, I chose to dwell on the positive. I will write about the triumphs, achievements and victories of government and the Filipino people.
Hopefully, in some small way, I can influence people to view their situation as a ‘glass half-full’, rather than a ‘glass-half empty’. To see opportunity in challenging situations and to inspire people to emulate those who excel, create, innovate and invent.
I searched for the best story to kick off my column. There are a lot of good things to write about, but what I really wanted was story that was BIG in every way shape and form!
I have been hearing a lot of good things about Clark its exponential export growth and how it provides jobs for 58,000 of our countrymen. But what I rally wanted to know was if Clark Freeport was really attracting the big ticket investors to make it the logistics and industrial powerhouse it was set-up to be. Was this the story I was looking for? I needed to see for myself.
I got myself an invitation to tour the Freeport complex. Apparently , the 4,400 hectare Freeport is jointly managed by the Clark International Airport Corporation (CAIC) who oversees all facets of the Freeport’s civil aviation operations, and the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) who manages matters relating to commerce and industry.
Victor Jose ‘Chichos’ Luciano, President of CAIC and the Diosdado Macapagal Internatonal Airport (DMIA) took me and my party to a tour of the facility including the airport itself, the epicenter of the Freeport.
I secretly feared that the remaining legacy of the Philippine-American Commonwealth would go the way of the Escolta district or Pasay City. It did not. The Freeport is impeccably maintained, down to the landscaped streets and police presence everywhere.
I was pleased to see a few big players in the DMIA complex. Singapore Airlines Engineering (Philippines) has established a facility to maintain aircrafts within the region, even as large as the Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A340. Expansion is afoot to accommodate even larger aircrafts like the Airbus A380. The Rolls Royce Company is also present to repair aircraft engines.
The DMIA is a small airport. It was once the air terminal used by U.S servicemen in the 80’s, now remodeled to be DMIA’s budget terminal. Its clean and efficiently run. No small feat considering it will be servicing a million passengers this year. (They serviced 650,000 passengers last year). The Clark airport is ISO certified and was even voted best budget airport in the region. Not bad for a refurbished facility!
To handle the traffic, an expansion of the existing passenger terminal has already been constructed and set to open by the summer. It’s another small but modern glass structure that gives the passengers a panoramic view of the runway. With the new facility in place, DMIA will be able to handle 2.5 million passengers a year.
Clark will continue to grow in importance as it is set to be the main gateway to the country. Talks are ongoing for the construction of a mammoth passenger terminal that can accommodate more than 20 million passengers a year. Although not official yet, word has it that Tonyboy Cojuangco’s new airline, Air Asia Philippines, is looking at the DMIA as its central hub.
But all of this is small news. I was looking for the big kahuna and yes, they have it! Kuwait based Peregrine Development International, a multi-billion investment firm that specializes in logistics, engineering and project management is developing what it calls the Global Gateway Logistics City (GGLC), a 177 hectare facility rising along the periphery of the DMIA.
The GGLC will have a Logistics Park, where aviation support activities and logistics centers will be located. It will also have a Business Park where aviation related headquarters will be zoned side by side with financial corporate offices.
Beside it will rise a Technology and Aero Park where research, development and training firms servicing the aviation industry will be located. It will also be the hub for health care and medical tourism with the second branch of the highly successful Medical City Hospital as its anchor.
When completed, Peregrine would have directly and indirectly pumped-in north of $5 Billion in new money and would have generated over a million jobs for our countrymen. It will generate billions in local revenues and export earnings. The CDC expects the logistics city to be fully operational within the decade.
The Clark Freeport Zone has a chance to be the nation’s model city a showcase of Philippine progress and a national cash-cow. It is on its way.. construction is ongoing! The future looks bright, and yes, it may just become the economic powerhouse it was envisioned to be.
4. Europeans want airline taxes lifted for open skies policy
Should the Aquino administration's open skies policy push through, taxes on foreign carriers should be lifted so that more airlines would come to the Philippines, European businessmen said Wednesday.
"The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines [ECCP] welcomes the open skies policy of the Aquino administration. Tourism has the chance to become one of the big contributors to foreign exchange earnings and employment," ECCP executive vice president Henry Schumacher said in a statement.
Schumacher said the open skies policy will not succeed if the international aviation industry will be "burdened with excessive and unfair taxes."
"It has to be understood that the international aviation industry is the most crucial partner of Philippine tourism. It is indisputable that the success of Philippine tourism will greatly depend on the country's international connectivity, which is, in turn, a function of the state of the international aviation industry in the Philippines," he said.
The number of international airlines doing business in the Philippines has dwindled over the years.
Schumacher said one of the reasons why the number of airlines operating in the country has not increased is because of the "unfriendly and grossly onerous tax regime for international airlines in the Philippines."
"The current tax regime in place consists of common carriers tax (CCT) of 3 percent of gross receipts, gross Philippine billings (GPB) tax of 2.5 percent, or an aggregate taxation on their gross revenue of 5.5 percent," he said.
These taxes and their pertinent regulations are not consistent with international standards and practices, Schumacher said, adding the Philippines is the "most expensive investment destination for airlines" in Southeast Asia.
"Philippine international carriers are not subject to these types of taxes in the routes where they compete with foreign airlines. This discrimination contravenes the principles of the International Civil Aviation Organization to which the Philippines is a signatory," Schumacher said.
According to him, the government earns P3.2 billion from the CCT and GPB taxes.
"The continued erosion of foreign and, perhaps, Philippine carrier flights that support Philippine trade and economic growth will benefit the other Asian economies in terms of business and employment opportunities," he added.
"The trade-off between loss in tax revenue and competitiveness of the air transport sector should be viewed as an investment of the government on the economy," Schumacher added.
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