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PDEA to deploy agents in DMIA

Administrator — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:37:28 +0000

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the region will soon be deploying some of its agents at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark Freeport Zone to give a sharper teeth to its campaign on anti-drug courier program.

Ronald Allan Ricardo, regional director of PDEA, said the drug agency is looking into providing DMIA a substantial number of the PDEA’s agents to help airport security in ensuring that no drug courier or drug mule enters or exits the country via the premiere airport.

Ricardo revealed that the plan is “in the works” and that the PDEA will is currently making the necessary coordination and ground works with DMIA officials regarding the matter.

The PDEA chief expressed delight over DMIA’s appreciative reception of the scheme.

In an interview with the PIA-Region 3, Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) President Victor Jose Luciano affirmed PDEA’s deployment of its agents to DMIA, saying that the move is a welcome development and CIAC, which is the mandated developer and operator of DMIA, fully supports it.
Ricardo said that the country may be lacking in terms of detection devices, but with intensive manning and strict inspection procedure at our airports, the PDEA expects that a decrease and eventual elimination of drug couriers will be attained.

The PDEA is also into massive information campaign in the region against drug mules, tying up with the Philippine Information Agency – Region 3, which Ricardo admitted is the most effective weapon in advocating the anti-drug courier program.

“Hopefully, thru our information campaign, our fellow Filipinos, who are engaged in this style of drug trafficking, will be awakened,” Ricardo relayed.

Ricardo revealed that there have been reports that recruitment for drug couriers is prevalent in the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Subic, clarifying that recruiters in these areas mostly belong to West African drug syndicates operating in the country.

Ricardo related that one style of these recruiters is that they first make potential recruits, specifically women, their intimate partners, who, in turn recruit as much as 50 drug couriers per single recruiter.

Recruiters, added Ricardo, lure potential recruits with huge amount as payment for their service as drug couriers. Price offers, he revealed, range from $2,000 and up.

Countries such as China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand are the usual places drug couriers go to conduct their business.

The drug courier problem emanates from an emerging trend in transporting illegal drugs using Filipino “drug couriers” that poses a major concern for our government. Drug mules or drug couriers are individuals who transport dangerous drugs in exchange for a huge amount of money. (William L. Beltran/PIA3)

Seair to start flights via Hong Kong and Macau

Administrator — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 11:50:13 +0000

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga — Domestic air carrier South East Asian Airlines (Seair), will further expand its operations at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) with flights to Hong Kong and Macau that are expected to start February 14, 2011, and, is considering flights to Taipei.

Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) President and CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano announced today that Seair will operate additional Clark-Hong Kong flights twice daily and Clark-Macau flights three times a week from the DMIA as part of the marketing program for the country including Clark Freeport Zone to boost the tourism industry.

The move came after the success of their twice weekly flights from the DMIA to Singapore that started in December 2010.

“We are happy to announce that Seair, will launch flights to Hong Kong and Macau at DMIA,” Luciano said.

“This is a welcome development for the airport as this will certainly redound to the benefit of travelers, tourists and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as well as boost the tourism industry not only in the Metro Clark area but Central Luzon and eventually, the rest of the country,” the CIAC chief pointed out.

He said the Seair will add 17 more flights a week that will average a total of 85 international flights a week aside from the flights of Federal Express and United Parcel Service (UPS) at the DMIA.

Seair is the second oldest airline in the country that started operations at DMIA in 1995. The air carrier leased two 144-seater Airbus A-319 aircraft from its partner Tiger Airways of Singapore last year for their international flights at DMIA catering to destinations in the South East Asian region. Seair currently operates daily flights to Caticlan at DMIA.

Seair is expected to add more flights from Clark to Vietnam, Korea and Thailand. Flight booking can be done via internet through their website www.seair.com as well as Tiger Airways’ website www.tigerairways.com as part of their marketing arrangements.

Carriers also operating from the DMIA include Air Asia of Malaysia with flights to Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia; Asiana Airlines and budget carrier Jin Air of South Korea both with flights to Incheon; and domestic carrier Cebu Pacific Air that flies to Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and Bangkok with domestic flights via Cebu, Spirit of Manila Airlines that flies to Taipei.

The Clark Airport–the only hope

Administrator — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:23:56 +0000

Whenever I travel internationally, I decide to closely observe the airports of those countries in comparison with the Manila International Airport. When I fly in an international airline, I got to depart from Terminal 1. The experience was humbling and I am certain that any Filipino who has flown in some countries would agree with me that the Philippine Terminal 1, which all international carriers use, is a shame to the country. This is the only terminal I have seen to have a reused plastic container serving as the rainwater control device in the middle of the departure lounge covered by dirty and stained carpet. The dirt and the disrepair for an international passenger terminal is unacceptable.
While Terminal 2 and 3 claim to be later additions to the supposed gateway to the Philippines, they do not as well do justice to the vision of a more progressive Philippines. Terminal 2 does not provide the services that modern travelers now require for an airport. It does not even have a decent restaurant that hungry travelers could go to. Terminal 3 (aside from the fact that you will always be afraid of failing ceilings) is still in the state of terminal controversies.
The need, therefore, for a modern airport comparable to our neighboring countries and suited to the needs of the passengers is a no-brainer. And as it is next to impossible to expand the NAIA, our next best alternative (if not the only alternative) is the Clark International Airport, better known as the DMIA. There are a myriad of factors that would favor this option, such as the space availability for expansion to four runways, the proximity to Manila which is just one hour away with a smooth NLEX, the completion of the SCTEx connecting Clark to both Subic and Tarlac and to the North Luzon region, the completion of the Subic Seaport and the rapid development of Central and North Luzon as new growth areas for the Philippines.
If we accept the statement that the airport is the window to the country’s soul, the Clark International Airport, hence, is our only option for salvation and redemption from uncompetitiveness in the region.
It is quite disappointing, though, that the bidding for the construction of the Terminal 2 of DMIA failed. I have been a witness to the sacrifices of CIAC personnel in working long hours to make the bidding work. It was disheartening to see their sacrifices go for naught. For some reasons, it failed and that is a hard reality for the Philippines that is so much in need of that public infrastructure.
While we could all grind our teeth for such a setback, every Filipino should rally to the realization of this need. And while we hunger for an international airport, we must make it a sense of citizenship, a moral duty, that the next airport that we will have should be a source of national pride and not of collective shame such as the Terminal 3.
The realization of our aspirations for a globally competitive Philippines is embodied in the success of the completion of the DMIA as the premier gateway to the Philippines. It is not only a public infrastructure. It is a structure that would show who we are as Filipinos to the world. It is, therefore, our duty as patriotic citizens to make it happen. There is no other choice—a choice that we could very well make.

Busy bodies

Administrator — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:19:41 +0000

Build and they will come.
From merely nothing flying out of the Clark international airport after the cataclysmic eruptions of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, the succeeding secondary explosions that emitted fine volcanic ashes and the dreaded lahar flows—the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport has metamorphosed into one of the busiest airports in the Asian region. Back then, we only had migratory birds visiting the two 3.2-km parallel runways, a contrast when the US military might is felt by the presence of the F4 phantoms lined up in front of the DMIA tower.
One man dared to dream and brought in the first international flights in the desolate Clark airport—Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President and CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano, then posted as EVP of the Clark Development Corp. Thus in October 2003, the first flight of Asiana arrived at the airport and the rest is history.
At the helm of CIAC, Luciano had been relentlessly pursuing important projects for DMIA that will make it the premier international gateway and a vibrant logistics and services hub. No wonder that for four days last week starting November 6, Luciano along with EVP/COO Alexander S. Cauguiran, VP for Finance Romeo Dyoco and VP for Operations and Business Development Bienvenido Manga had been busy attending to groundbreakings and inaugural flights.
On November 6, CIAC broke ground with SIA Engineering Company, in partnership with Cebu Pacific Air for the establishment of a $100-million Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility. Luciano, SIA Engineering Company headed by President and CEO William Tan and Cebu Pacific President and CEO Lance Gokongwei led the groundbreaking rites as well as the time capsule-laying for the multimillion-dollar facility, which was also attended by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The MRO Facility at the Changi Airport in Singapore is already congested and thus the establishment of the MRO facility in Clark is expected to further improve services at DMIA and make it more viable as the next premier gateway of the Philippines. “The MRO fulfills the vision of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to make Clark a leading world-class service hub in the Asia Pacific-Region,” said Luciano.
“We have always been impressed with the Filipino people. We are excited about Clark,” said SIA Engineering’s Tan.
“A world-class MRO facility at Clark will further enhance aerospace into the Philippines. With SIA Engineering Company’s MRO proficiency, we will certainly develop the local talent pool of aerospace management and engineering personnel. In addition, a heavy maintenance facility in the Philippines will significantly enhance Cebu Pacific Air’s dispatch reliability and engineering quality,” said Gokongwei.
On November 7, another groundbreaking was held for the establishment of the P1-billion aircraft hangar facility of new kid on the block Spirit of Manila. The hangar is capable of handling the Boeing 747-800, Airbus A-320 and the Airbus 380. Spirit of Manila will mount flights to Taipei and Macau and had been also planning to fly to the Middle East to serve OFWs.
On November 8 and 9, Cebu Pacific Air launched its flights to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Macau. Residents of Central and Northern Luzon have welcomed the flights, particularly the “Go Lite Fares” offered by Cebu Pacific, allowing families to visit their kin who are working in Asian countries more often.