Gov’t should be ashamed as Cebu Pacific revives Iloilo-HK flights

By Alex P. Vidal

“Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.”—Honore de Balzac

THE Cebu Pacific has beaten to draw the Philippine Government when it announced the reopening of Iloilo to Hong Kong and Singapore vice versa direct flights starting October 2024 or three months from now.

By beating to the draw means the airline, owned by the Gokongweis, will be “pushing the cart ahead of the horse” or reviving the airline’s pre-pandemic international flights even before the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has begun upgrading the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo.

The Philippine Government, especially the DOTr, should be ashamed for the delay of the Iloilo Airport’s upgrading pushed with utmost urgency by top local officials since last year.

While dilly-dallying the airport improvement, it didn’t occur to the Philippine Government that Cebu Pacific, “committed to mounting the service as soon as it gets the necessary clearance,” according to the airline spokesperson Carmela Romero, was working on securing regulatory approvals for Iloilo-Singapore flights with or without the Iloilo Airport improvements.

While the DOTr was still on the plateau stage of “sharing the desire of the people of Iloilo City and the province for a renewed, modernized, expanded, sustainable and future-proof ILO (Iloilo International Airport),” the Cebu Pacific was already busy “building up its international reach from Visayas” by announcing the resumption of the Iloilo-Hong Kong and Singapore direct flights.

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In his letter to Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas dated May 6, 2024, Transportation Assistant Secretary for Aviation and Airports Enrique Antonio Esquivel III emphasized: “We likewise acknowledged the importance of a revitalized ILO to sustaining economic growth and activity in the city and province of Iloilo and the greater Region VI” even as he provided city hall with updates on the proposed privatization of the airport.

To add insult, the awarding of the project to the contractor for improvement of Iloilo Airport will reportedly begin in the first quarter of 2025 even as Esquivel III revealed the original proponent, in the form of an unsolicited proposal (USP) under the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, was the Prime Asset Ventures Inc. (PAVI), a unit of the Villar Group of Companies.

The preparations are quite dizzying. If the project will be awarded yet in the first quarter (January, February, March) of 2025, Ilonggos don’t have any concrete timeline for the start of upgrading.

By the time the government starts the Iloilo Airport improvement, more than a hundred flights from Iloilo to Hong Kong and Singapore vice versa have already been logged. Which would defeat the purpose of the upgrading in one way or the other.

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(The following statement was jointly released by the Governments of the United States of America and the Philippines on the occasion of the successful conclusion of the Philippines-United States Cyber-Digital Policy Dialogue in Washington, D.C.) Las of two parts:

The dialogue acknowledged progress in fostering greater regional cybersecurity cooperation and capacity building, as well as the importance of upholding and implementing the UN-affirmed Framework of Responsible State Behavior in Cyberspace as well as continued implementation of cyber confidence building measures (CBMs).

These CBMs reduce the risk of conflict stemming from the use of ICTs, including efforts advanced through the ASEAN Regional Forum Inter-Sessional Meeting on Security of and in the Use of ICTs.

Addressing a robust bilateral agenda on digital policy issues, both countries recognized the importance of promoting the development and commercial deployment of a trusted information communications technology ecosystem, including equipment, software, and services.

Delegations emphasized the importance of strengthening cybersecurity and protecting privacy, intellectual property rights, and digital freedom will support the development and growth of the global digital economy.

The United States and the Philippines endorsed secure fifth generation (5G) networks and open, interoperable, and trusted architectures such as Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN).

The Philippines endorsed the development of a national Open RAN policy framework, reaffirming an open, interoperable, and trusted architectures as announced during the United States-Philippines-Japan Trilateral Leaders’ Summit in April 2024. Both countries also welcomed the Philippines’ plan to pilot an Open RAN in its National Broadband Program and Free Wi-Fi project.

Both countries reaffirmed the importance of promoting secure and reliable global undersea cable networks, including through the designation of undersea cables as critical infrastructure and a verification process on the equipment used for cable installation, operation, and maintenance.

The United States and the Philippine governments emphasized the importance of cloud computing and satellite connectivity to advance digital connectivity and inclusion and decided to further discussions on promoting cloud policies to promote resiliency and redundancy.

The two countries affirmed their commitment to exchange best practices on recent reforms and efforts that expand digital connectivity through provision of satellite-based solutions and to continue to facilitate interest and market access to low and middle earth orbit services.

Both countries reaffirmed the importance of ensuring the trusted flow of data across borders, which underpin the digital economy, and committed to continue to advance the Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) Forum to facilitate interoperability among data protection and privacy frameworks globally.

Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to enhance bilateral cooperation, strengthen cooperation through the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ and Senior Officials’ meetings, and foster investments for secure and resilient ICT infrastructure.

The dialogue included discussions with U.S. private sector representatives on the promotion of 5G wireless technologies, networks, services, and cybersecurity services; public-private partnerships to support the development of the digital economy; international coordination in areas such as data protection and privacy, cross-border data flows, advancing digital freedom, and cybersecurity capacity building; public-private collaboration to foster public trust and support for responsible stewardship of the Internet and digital connectivity; and investments in ICT, emerging technologies, and cybersecurity that contribute to resilient and sustainable growth.

The United States and the Philippines look forward to identifying further opportunities for cooperation in the United States, Philippines, and Japan Trilateral Cyber and Digital Dialogue in October 2024.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)