At the 1st Aviation Summit

Allow me to greet fellow Rotarian Capt. Federico “Rex” Reyes on his 96th birthday today. Former Rotary District Governor Rex has the rare and honored distinction of being the oldest Rotarian in the country and the oldest Rotary Governor in the world. Rex was the contemporary of my father Atty. Jesus Avila and after he died in 1979, I took over his post in the Rotary Club of Cebu (Mother). Rex greeted me not as a son of his friend but a fellow Rotarian and didn’t want me to call him sir. Many happy returns to you Rex and may God grant all your wishes and more years for you to come.

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I was in Manila the other day to attend the First Aviation Summit by the Philippine Aviation Society, held at the Philippine Air Force Museum in Villamor Air Base. Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) General Manager Danilo Francia is the Aviation Society’s President. It was a good time to meet old friends like former PAF Chief Gen. Loven Abadia (1991-92) who back in 1974-75 was Team Leader of the famous Blue Diamonds aerobatic group using Northrop F-5s (his F-5 “Haring Tupas” is on display at the Air Force Museum) at what I would say were the glory days of the PAF. Also on our table was former PAF Chief Gen. William Hotchkiss (1996-99), the uncle of Tourism Sec. Ace Durano, who looks like an American because he really has American blood.

Also on our table was PAF Gen. Gilbert Llanto (ret.) a very good friend of mine, who when he became General I never got to meet anymore as he was detailed at the PAF Headquarters. With him is a guy I haven’t met since our ROTC Days more than 43 years ago. He’s retired PAF Col. Fidel Dacalos, who was our Corps Commander at the University of San Carlos (USC) in 1966-67. It was the year that USC was awarded the Star for the Best ROTC in Cebu!

We also met with Ninoy Aquino International Airport Authority NAIA) General Manager Al Cusi, former Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Vicente Rivera during Erap’s time, recently retired PAF Chief Pedro Cadungog from Ginatilan, Mr. Avelino Zapanta former PAL President, now CEO of Seair and Candace Iyog of Cebu Pacific Air. It was also a time to meet my new friends, Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. and Capt. Joy Roa of Air Safari TV fame.

One of the highlights of the Summit was a car raffle; not an ordinary car raffle because they were raffling off a second hand car. But it was no ordinary second hand car, it was a 1997 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur, which was won by Mr. Ed Delgado of UPS. I hope he’s the top boss of this company; otherwise, he will have a better car than his boss!

I’ve been an Aviation buff since I was a little kid. Blame it on my uncle, Archt. Gregorio Segura who had an L-4 Piper Cut in the 1950s. He would take us for a ride on that plane to our farm in Bohol from the old Lahug airport. That plane crashed in the 60s, but it left an imprint in me, to the point I wanted to join the PAF in 1972, but my Dad refused. So call me a frustrated pilot, but I did sneak in trying to fly with an old buddy, Jose Mari Picornell, who when he was learning to fly solo, I would pay for half his flight time and he’d teach me the basics of flying. Yes, Jose Mari is now one of Cebu’s foremost art painters.

The Summit’s Keynote Speaker was Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. whose talk centered on producing high quality Filipino specialists in the aviation industry. He emphasized that the Filipino trait or attitude of “Pwede Na” should be thrown away. Indeed this is true; mechanics can be a bit lax when fixing cars because if an accident happens, only a few people would get hurt. But you can never do this in an aircraft. A case in point is the recent Airbus crash in the Comoros Islands which was suspected of poor maintenance.

Sec. Teodoro also quoted author Art Friedman (who wrote The World is Flat) who suggested that we should “innovate, innovate, innovate”. Sec. Teodoro pointed out that we must innovate so we can catch up with just our mediocre neighbors! But he believes that the Aviation Industry will survive despite the Global financial downturn because it is a necessity, not a luxury.

There were other speakers as well, like former DOTC Chief Vicente Rivera, Director General Ruben Ciron of the CAAP (formerly the Civil Aeronautics Board) and Lt. Gen. Oscar Rabena currently the PAF Chief and of course Gen. Danilo Francia who set the tone for the Aviation Summit. With the Aviation Society in place, we can hope for more exciting times in the Aviation Industry, like a Balloon Festival here in Cebu? This just might happen!