NGO urges CA to question DOTC action in air talks

A non-governmental organization (NGO) advocating for progressive liberalization of air policy has urged the Commission on Appointments (CA) to question and look into the actions of a Cabinet secretary granting lopsided concessions in favor of foreign carriers because of their far-reaching negative impact on local aviation and other airline-related industries.

Robert Lim Joseph, founder of the Save Our Skies (SOS) movement, said Transportation and Communications Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez might have acted not in the best interest of the country when he granted more seat capacity to foreign airlines, leaving Philippine carriers at a great disadvantage.

"The CA, which is now considering Alvarez’s nomination, should look deeply into his (Alvarez’s) actions during two recent air talks because of their far-reaching impact on our local aviation industry in particular and the country in general," Joseph said, referring to the RP-Korea air pact signed on Nov. 29, 2001 and RP-Singapore agreement signed on Aug. 25, 2001.

He said Alvarez acted hastily in getting the deals done and decided unilaterally, keeping in the dark the affected parties.

Under the RP-Korea agreement, Korean and Philippine carriers were granted four additional flight frequencies yet the former would be using bigger aircraft, enabling them to carry more passengers than RP airlines.

Joseph said during the RP-Korea air negotiations in Seoul, Korea, Alvarez reportedly called up the Philippine negotiating panel and instructed it to agree to Korea’s positions when the talks got stalled despite their being disadvantageous to the Philippines.

In the RP-Singapore agreement, the Philippine government agreed to increase the weekly seat entitlements of the carriers of both countries despite the excess seat capacity and lack of demand on the route. It was learned that passenger volume on the route reached only 158,784 in 2000 yet the new agreement brought to 835,200 the seats available per year.

The SOS founder said discussion on the RP-Singapore agreement was conducted in secrecy by not involving the affected local airlines and that Alvarez assumed the chairmanship of the negotiating panel when it should be the executive director of the CAB.

He said both lopsided agreements would adversely affect the local airline industry and eventually the tourism-and travel-related sectors.

"The government should be fair. It should scrutinize every deal properly. Alvarez should not be in a hurry to finalize deals with foreign carriers because the Philippines may be at a disadvantage," Joseph stressed.

He said it appears that the government is very lenient to foreign carriers during air talks. "The DOTC has to be pro-Filipino. It should make deals which are fair to the Philippine carriers or the industry might just collapse."

SOS, whose board of trustees is made up of respected executives from the tour, travel and airline industries, is fighting for the protection of the airline industry, safety and security in and out of airports and ease in travel to and from airport.