While doing ninong duties at the wedding of close family friends, I made the acquaintance of my new kumpadre or fellow godfather who has a couple of businesses in Coron, Palawan. That brought back a lot of memories since I used to build resorts in the area, namely Discovery Paradise which I originally named Club Paradise. That was followed by Hacienda Resort, which is now owned by FF Jr.
As I compared notes with my kumpadre, I learned that tourism has been affected by what locals call predatory pricing on the part of airlines. I nodded in sympathy, under the impression that he was talking about the P7,000 to P9,000 ticket prices that are too rich for my pocket.
I nearly fell off my seat when he told me that it was more like P19,000! Just to be sure, I fact checked the prices, and this is what I discovered: Sunlight airline and Cebu Pacific currently charge P22,000 round trip while PAL charges P18,500. If you review the advertised prices, it seems that all three airlines effectively tripled their fares during the peak season and will slowly slide them down to the 7K to 9K range beginning February.
Three times the average is undeniably predatory pricing but who’s watching? Not government, and certainly not the members of the quad comm! Even if the DOTr tried to do something, prices will probably slide down due to the decrease in travelers by February before any investigation or hearings are conducted.
While talking about lost opportunities due to predatory airfares, my new kumpadre lamented that up to today, the aircraft that fly into the old Yulo King ranch are turbo props or propeller-type planes and not the bigger jets that carry around 200-plus passengers. I commented that in fairness to the airlines, turbo props do consume more and are less efficient and therefore would cost more to operate.
But my kumpadre commented that the reason the bigger aircraft can’t fly in is because the government under several administrations initiated a runway extension project but stopped midway after the funds were “realigned.” In the nearly seven years I spent working on projects in Coron, I have heard that term so many times.
From 1989 to 1995, I have known and seen how politicians would show up, promise to lobby for the construction of the runway and the airport terminal. A few months later, an additional few meters would be added and that would be the end of it. Then the accursed North Palawan rains would come and destabilize the ground.
In hindsight, I realize that past administrations and Congresses and contractors had a dirty trick where they would pave the first 50 meters and the last 50 meters of a road project so the contractor can collect payment quickly. I personally saw that in Batangas province, and as I recall that happened to the Yulo King runway in Coron at least three times. Sadly, they often only did 25 to 30 meters, I think.
Senators, congressmen and even airport authorities would fly in on junkets, take photos in front of the freshly laid concrete/ asphalt runway, then head off to Calauit or the beach to discover the Palawan wilderness, eat lobsters and lechon for free.
So, if my kumpadre was accurate in his narration, half of the runway is unpaved. That, ladies and gentlemen, has been the problem for the last 37 years, based on personal knowledge.
How on earth or is it a case of “Only in the Philippines” where the Department of Tourism promotes Coron as a major tourism destination of the country but overlooks the airport/runway problem? During the last administration, I remember how the DOT would nag the DPWH over signage or the lack thereof.
But here we are talking about a runway that limits the volume of inbound passengers, curtails the logistics options to supply needs of restaurants, hotels and resorts and directly increases the airfare. Back in the day, the DOTC would at least label such destinations as pioneer/missionary routes and place a limit on the airfare.
That is no longer the case. Even for flights to the bucket list destination Batanes province, the rate during off season was always at around P19,000. That is at par with flights to Hong Kong but the difference is, in Batanes the flights are weather dependent and often cancelled.
So, you could be scheduled for a four-day trip in Batanes but end up staying a week until the next flight. The hotel prices are also not budget friendly, so an unexpected stranding could be costlier than a trip to Hong Kong or Japan.
Government must do its part and pay its share in tourism infrastructure development. I remember the current DOT secretary quoting President BBM’s orders to develop facilities and tourism infrastructure that has the convenience of tourists in mind.
There is nothing convenient about flying in a high-priced propeller-type aircraft that requires hard landing a la Philippine Air Force planes because the runway is short!
Why are Batanes, Busuanga and Coron being deprived of appropriate runways and airports? Do we have to privatize every airport in the Philippines just to get the most out of our tourism potential?
I sincerely hope that someone in Malacañang gets to read this column and call the attention of the DOT and the DOTr. Yes, Coron and Busuanga are beautiful destinations, but getting there is not necessarily dreamy and the last memory is a 37+-year-old problem of corruption and indifference.
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