Flying veggies on Air Force C-130s may have hidden costs
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 9:46 a.m., Oct. 3) — The government has been using Philippine Air Force transport planes to ferry to transport fruits and vegetables to Metro Manila from Mindanao in what may be a costly bid to provide cheaper goods.
On September 22, Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol announced that two Air Force C-130s have been flying from General Santos City and Davao City to airlift food to Metro Manila as part of the Philippine Food Skyway Program.
"The program is credited in bringing down the prices of vegetables in the Metro Manila market which spiked after Typhoon Ompong," Piñol said in a Facebook post.
According to the Agriculture secretary, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana committed the planes—normally used to transport troops and supplies—which will also be used to transport food to Cagayan Valley and Ilocos in the aftermath of Typhoon Ompong.
"Carrots brought in from Bukidnon were sold for only P100, while cabbage was P80 per kilo at the TienDA Farmers' and Fishermen's Outlet at the Bureau of Plant Industry compound in Malate, Manila," Piñol said.
Cost to fly
While the government has committed to shoulder the costs of airlifting basic food items from remote production areas to urban centers, doing so comes at a price.
According to a Rand Corporation study, the operating costs of a C-130 aircraft include factors such as personnel, materiel support, intermediate maintenance, depot maintenance, contractor support, sustainment and personnel support.
"There are specific prices for each resource category, often tied to the specific aircraft (mission design series) being evaluated. Thus, pilots may receive the same remuneration as other officers, but their training costs are typically much higher, and the cost of training a fighter pilot typicallyexceeds the costs of training a transport aircraft pilot," the study read.
A Business Insider report indicated that the US Air Force and Navy spends $6,604, or roughly P358,000, per hour in operating the C-130H Hercules aircraft. All other user rates is at $7,100 or around P385,000 per hour.
These figures are based on the 2016 annual report of the US Office of the Undersecretary of Defense Comptroller.
Travel time from General Santos City and Davao City to Manila range from 1.5 to 2 hours. This means that a roundtrip for a C-130 aircraft would cost roughly P1 million for the government.
Wear and tear on aircraft
Jose Antonio Custodio, a military historian and defense analyst, said a downside for this is that the aircraft would need extensive maintenance for this kind of operation.
"Regardless of cargo, what is important is wear and tear due to missions... so the maintenance crew should be ready to face the possibility of a need for extensive maintenance, especially following prolonged daily operations," Custodio told Philstar.com.
The Philippine Air Force had five C-130s in October 2016, when a new unit arrived from the US.
Private air cargo company tapped
The use of private aircraft would also come at a different cost. Piñol said a private company that owns two Boeing 727 cargo planes, has also been tapped for the project.
A commercial pilot whom Philstar.com talked to was surprised at the announcement, saying a 727 aircraft had been refitted to carry cargo in the past, "but that stopped operations around 2010."
The same pilot said that seafood is regularly flown to Manila for export and to fetch higher prices in the capital.
"There's trade of vegetables and fish, so the flight has value," the source said of the Skyway flights, but could not comment on the financial feasibility of the program.
Piñol, in a Facebook post on September 19, said "[Archibald Po, owner of aircraft charter company Lionair Inc.] informed me that some of his friends in the air cargo industry have acquired two Boeing 727 Cargo Planes and that they were working on the numbers to determine if these could be used for local hauls."
The post was shared on the Facebook page of Clark, Pampanga-based PSI Air 2007. According to its website, PSI Air 2007's fleet includes "Boeing 727-200F with capacity of 22 ton cargo, and B737-200 with capacity of 18 ton cargo and Dornier 322 with capacity of 3 ton cargo supporting ad hoc , feeder Short and Mid range routes."
Starting this week, at least six more containers of vegetables will be transported from Mindanao every week.
Probe sought in 2017
In March 2017, Rep. Gary Alejano (Magdalo Partylist) filed a House resolution calling for a probe into the Philippine Food Skyway Project of the Agriculture and Defense departments.
In House Resolution 914, Alejano said the project deprives the PAF of access of "scarce assets pertaining to national defense and disaster response."
"Whereas, the proposed use of the PAF's C-130 will not only put burden on the government with regard the expense for the fuel and maintenance of the aircraft but also on the productive life span of the aircraft itself," Alejano said.
The lawmaker also pointed out that the Department of Agriculture could instead acquire or lease separate cargo planes for such projects.
The resolution, however, has been pending with the House Committee on Agriculture and Food since May 2017.
(Editor's note: The article has been updated to include PSI Air 2007 Inc., which had been referred to only as a "private company" in Piñol's September 24 Facebook post.)
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