Other Economy stories

Commercial flights to Guiuan mulled

TACLOBAN CITY -- The government is assisting two flag carriers as they conduct a market study on a possible service to Guiuan, the jump-off point to surfing destination Calicoan Island in Eastern Samar. Presidential Assistant for Eastern Visayas Cynthia Nierras said her office has been such information to Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air. "We have been coordinating with these airline companies in providing profiles of Guiuan town and other necessary information," Ms. Nierras said. The airport in Guiuan has been improved. But not one commercial flight serves this Eastern Samar town. "The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has already sent personnel to Guiuan Airport to supervise the operation of the airport," Ms. Nierras said. Cebu Air corporate communications manager Michelle Eve De Guzman confirmed that the airline is studying the Manila-Guiuan or Cebu-Guiuan route. The proposed route is being considered under the airline's expansion plan for 2009-2014. The Tacloban office of PAL, meanwhile, is assessing passenger traffic volume in Guiuan and the condition of the airport. Ms. Nierras said she was optimistic that the airlines would respond positively to requests from several groups and local government officials for commercial flights to Guiuan. Early this year, SeaAir launched the Manila-Borongan flight but the service was stopped for lack of passengers. Borongan is the capital town of Eastern Samar while Guiuan is the second biggest town. The Guiuan Airport was improved for P155 million, which covered the construction and concreting of apron and taxiway, rehabilitation of the passenger terminal building, construction of the perimeter fence, construction of access road, and asphalt overlay of the runway. Calicoan, one of the islands off Guiuan town, has been dubbed a surfer's paradise with its powerful swells rolling in from the Pacific Ocean. -- S. Q. Meniano

North Cotabato airport set to open next year

KORONADAL CITY -- North Cotabato's agriculture sector is expected to get a boost with a new airport now almost completed for start of operations slated by middle next year, a provincial official said on Thursday. Vice-Gov. Emmanuel F. Piñol said in an interview here Thursday that the airport in the town of M'lang is expected to provide relief to North Cotabato farmers bugged by problems in transporting perishable and non-perishable products to markets in the Visayas and Luzon. "This [airport] would eventually spur the business climate of the province and adjacent areas and help our farmers," he said. The airport was scheduled to be visited on Thursday by President Gloria M. Arroyo, but the visit was moved to November 3. Mr. Piñol said the airport will allow North Cotabato producers to directly access big trading centers in the cities of Manila, Cebu and Iloilo. Among the major products of the province are rice, corn, rubber, banana and exotic fruits such as durian, lanzones, rambutan, pomelo and mangosteen. The airport sits on a 64-hectare property bought from the Buenaflor family. The airport terminal facility is already 85%-90% completed. The airport plan has been approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, which initially allocated P12.8 million for the purchase of the land at P200,000 per hectare. Mrs. Arroyo herself had recommended the use of the Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp.'s (PNOC-EDC) royalty to the province as additional fund for the airport's construction. PNOC-EDC operates geothermal plants in Kidapawan City, the province's capital. In 2006, Mrs. Arroyo ordered the Department of Energy to turn over the P30 million in royalty for the province to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC). The DoTC also approved an additional P40 million to augment the airport fund. Senator Richard Gordon and North Cotabato Rep. Bernardo F. Piñol, Jr. (2nd District) were able to have Congress approve P100-million funding for the airport's construction in the 2008 annual appropriations. This was used building the terminal of the airport, although another P100 million is still needed for the project to be fully completed, including the runway, Mr. Piñol said. He added the airport is expected to be fully operational by mid-2010, 15 years after the idea was conceived. -- R. S. Sarmiento

Retirement agency pursues agreements with LGUs

DAVAO CITY -- The Philippine Retirement Authority is coming up with a memorandum of agreement with local government units in Mindanao that would accredit areas suitable for retirement projects. Jaime B. Llames, officer-in-charge of the agency in this city, however, said red tape has become a hindrance in this process since some local executives need authority from their respective legislative bodies before they could sign an agreement. Mr. Llames said local council deliberations on these agreements have made it difficult for his agency to fast-track the implementation of programs for retirees. "The (progress in approving agreements) is very slow," he said, citing the case of one city mayor in the Davao Region who has yet to sign the agreement because the city council has yet to approve the resolution authorizing him to do so. Interested local governments, he said, must have improved medical facilities comparable with international standards if they want retirees to take notice of their areas. "Medical facilities are very important to them," he said. To be sure, some local governments have gone ahead to lure retirees to their areas. Dapitan, a city in Zamboanga del Norte, will be visited by 100 retirees from Europe that the agency of Mr. Llames is bringing in. In the case of Davao City, Carlos Omar A. Vargas, president of the local chapter of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders' Association, said that his group and that of Mr. Llames will visit London next year to promote Davao as "boom city of Asia." Mr. Vargas said the London market is important because he was informed that about 30% of Filipinos in London are either from Davao (region) or have relatives in Davao. "This is a very huge market (for property developers), especially retirees," he said. "In previous years, there were no properties that could be sold to them," he said as he noted that only in the last three years when investors started developing upscale property units specifically for foreigners, many of them retirees, as well as overseas Filipino workers. Davao has been a host to several upscale housing projects and newly built condominiums. Moreover, private hospitals such as the Davao Doctors Hospital have improved their equipment and services to qualify for international standards. In nearby Samal City, a local company, the RJP Realty Corp., has started developing Samal Highlands Garden Resort, for retirees. Jonathan A. Alegre, an official of the company, said the project has been promoted to both US and European market, particularly those Filipinos in the medical profession. -- C. Q. Francisco

Arroyo said backing proposed Mindanao dev't agency

DAVAO CITY -- President Arroyo has vowed to certify as urgent the legislative proposal that would form the Mindanao Economic Development Authority, Jesus G. Dureza, presidential assistant for Mindanao, claimed in an interview here. Mrs. Arroyo made the statement during the 37th general assembly of the Bishop-Ulama Conference where she was the guest of honor, Mr. Dureza said. He said the creation of the authority, which is an enhanced institutional body from the current Mindanao Economic Development Council, should help spur development in Mindanao. He said most Mindanao lawmakers have supported the proposal as it already passed the second reading in the House of Representatives. -- CQF
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