Fine for Chinese airline, but no second runway

I was watching the Senate inquiry into the Xiamen Airlines crash landing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on ABS-CBN’s ANC and apparently the news about that investigation is for the government to demand a P33-million fine for the inconvenience Xiamen Airlines caused to the aviation industry since August 16 when thousands of airline passengers could not fly out of NAIA as the main runway was blocked by their Boeing 737.

Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Ed Monreal said the amount could go higher depending on the outcome of negotiations. What negotiations is he talking about? If you are going to fine the airline for the inconvenience it caused there is only one figure to use; the amount spent in removing the aircraft from the runway and the amount spent by airlines that had to pay its grumbling passengers.

Yes I heard Senator Grace Poe discuss the need for a second runway, but apparently the DOTr didn’t give any details as to what plans they had for NAIA. To get a second runway they have to expropriate the Moonwalk Village which is beside the main runway and pay the owners of those houses so they can expand the runway. Of course the alternative is for NAIA to accept various proposals. Like the Bulacan International Airport as proposed by Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp. or further expansion of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga.

The question is about money or the lack of it. Accepting the SMC proposal means the government won’t be spending a centavo in building this new modern airport. However it also means it would lose a lot of revenue from Clark and NAIA. It is a tough decision for DOTr, or for President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, to make. But whatever is decided is something better than the current state of our airport today, therefore it is a no-brainer for the president.

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I didn’t know that Sanofi, the manufacturer of the dreaded Dengvaxia vaccine that was released to thousands of Filipino children towards the end of the term of former president PNoy Aquino had apparently returned P1.16 billion to the Department of Health when the agency returned the unused anti-dengue vaccines to the French manufacturer. Since the money was returned, DOH gave it to the Bureau of Treasury for safekeeping.

We learned that Health Secretary Duque wants to use this money to help fund the efforts to improve the situation of the children vaccinated with Dengvaxia. This is something that even President Duterte clearly wanted to point out, that it should be used for the children involved in the Dengvaxia tragedy.

I gathered that Congress last May approved on third and final reading House Bill 7449 or the proposed supplemental budget to assist children who were given the vaccine. Of the P1.16 billion, P945.8 million will be allocated for the medical assistance program of those vaccinated with Dengvaxia seeking treatment either confined at a hospital or as outpatient, while P148.3 million will be spent on assessment and monitoring of those vaccinated with Dengvaxia and for supplies and medicine.

While we know that all these happened in the last few months of the Aquino administration, we still have to find out the culpability of the former president with regards the Dengvaxia controversy. He approved this vaccine with the knowledge that it hasn’t yet been thoroughly tested. This is what we get from a president who doesn’t have any children to call his own.

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In another controversy, the Bureau of Immigration has affirmed its deportation order against Australian nun Patricia Fox, as reported by Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra who confirmed that the BI Board of Commissioners dismissed the motion for reconsideration filed by Fox and stood firm on its deportation order issued last month. However, the DOJ chief stressed that Fox may not be immediately deported since the BI deportation order “can still be subject to appeal to the DOJ or the Office of the President.”

In my book, religious personalities who come to the country and join political rallies should not be allowed in this country. While we submit that the Australian nun has helped our poor, she also became too political for her own good. So this issue should teach her a lesson.

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