DOTC should stand firm in its decision

A lot of people are confident that the overly delayed Cebu-Mactan International Airport (MCIA) project will soon be in full swing now that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has awarded the P17.5 billion project to the GMR-Megawide consortium which submitted the best bid of P14.4 billion. Many businessmen were actually getting disappointed at the DOTC as far as major public-private partnerships projects are concerned because of perceptions that the agency is neither here, nor there, with some even calling the DOTC the “Department of Tender Cancellations” because of the indecision that has resulted in unprecedented delays.

The bidding for the MCIA project which – in the words of a DOTC official himself – should have been done “a decade ago” was finally conducted last year but it still took the Transportation department several months before coming out with a decision. Considering that the winning consortium had satisfied all requirements, DOTC should stand by its decision and not leave the airport project hanging because it is unfair to the people of Cebu. Certainly, Secretary Jun Abaya et. al. should not allow themselves to be cowed or intimidated by threats coming from politicians and other groups with vested interests.

In any case, the winning bidder has vowed to transform the country’s second busiest airport into a world-class facility and make it very efficient, passenger-oriented and commercially sustainable. “The Mactan-Cebu International Airport will become a regional hub creating passenger and cargo traffic growth, jobs for the local community, rise in tourism traffic and multiplier economic benefits to the region. Most importantly, it will be an airport that truly reflects the culture and heritage of Cebuanos,” assured GMR’s Airports Sector chairman Srinivas Bommidala.

Merkel’s ‘poisonous gift’

It’s not unusual for diplomatic leaders or heads of state to exchange token gifts with each other, like what happened when Chinese President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin last week. Merkel presented the Chinese leader with a 1735 map of China made by renowned French cartographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville – which would have been a perfectly innocuous gift for the visiting Chinese dignitary. Unfortunately, Merkel’s 1735 d’Anville map showed a land mass labeled as “China proper” that did not include Xinjian, Tibet, Manchuria and Mongolia – areas that have historically been considered by the Chinese as part of their territory. In the same map which was printed by a German publishing house, Hainan and Taiwan were also depicted as separate from China. Of course, everyone knows Taiwan has been at odds with China regarding sovereignty issues, to put it delicately. 

Not surprisingly, Tibetans decried what they called as “Chinese deception” while the Chinese on the other hand were furious at what they described as a “poisonous gift.” The Chinese take their maps seriously especially when it concerns disputed areas, with schoolchildren taught at an early age to learn by heart the so-called inalienable parts of China since time immemorial.

While some are saying Merkel did not mean anything with the “map flap” or “map faux pas” as some now describe the incident, suspicious minds insist the act was a subtle attempt, if not a deliberate slap, to remind the Chinese that Russian forces  (through a certain Lieutenant General Baron Ungern) helped Mongolia declare independence from China in 1920, even helping Mongolia establish its own army and government in 1921. China and Russia have become close allies, with the latter now the object of displeasure by many western countries for its invasion of Crimea.

New rules for private aircraft

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) should be very strict in implementing air safety rules not only for commercial planes but private aircraft as well. Call signs should be given clearly to identify the aircraft with flight information duly reported to the tower to avoid accidents. We had a near mishap a few years ago when a fixed wing plane piloted by an American (who pretended he was close to the US Embassy when in fact he was not) almost collided with our helicopter because he was flying at an altitude specifically prescribed for helicopters in patent violation of flight safety rules and regulations.

How ironic for an American to be violating safety rules since one of the reasons why the US Federal Aviation Administration slapped the Philippines with a Category 2 rating downgrade was precisely because of safety issues. If we want to get back to Category 1 status, CAAP has to be serious in enforcing aviation safety regulations.

Looming Binay-Villar alliance in 2016?

Vice President Jejomar Binay and former Senator Manny Villar saw each other in Malacañang last week during the state luncheon for visiting Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam. The two promised to “get together soon” – possibly to discuss potential political alliances for 2016?

Everyone knows the vice president has not been coy about his presidential ambitions, with the guessing game having been focused on the identity of his potential running mate. Some of the names that have been floated include Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Batangas mayor Vilma Santos-Recto. Considering VP Binay’s recent decision to bolt the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party, will he be joining forces with Villar’s Nacionalista Party soon?  

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