Transportation and Communication Secretary Jose De Jesus has ordered Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) President and CEO Victor Jose Luciano to prepare to accommodate more diversion of international and domestic flights at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA).

The order came after the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) encountered navigational problems which forced flights to divert to DMIA.

NAIA recently suffered setbacks due to the aging navigational equipment and runway visibility problems due to the worsening of pollutions in Metro Manila that prompted airport officials to divert international and domestic flights at DMIA in Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.

De Jesus told Luciano that DMIA must be ready anytime to accommodate more air carriers that would be diverted to Clark and prepare the needs of the passengers such as hotel accommodations and transportation service to Manila .

Luciano said that DMIA is ready anytime and well prepared to accommodate the influx of diversion of flights, adding that the aircrafts are safe to land in the area.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) issued Memorandum Circular No. 62 enjoining all air carriers operating scheduled services in the Philippines to ensure the comfort and convenience of passengers during long delays through the provision of adequate food, water and personal necessities.

CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said the circular is based on the general obligation of air carriers, as public policies, pending the formulation, finalization and adoption of a more specific and comprehensive set of rules that shall deal with the matter, in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Code.

Luciano said that DOTC will require airlines to give food and water to passengers during long delays.

The air carriers would be required to submit a Contingency Plan for long tarmac delays for its scheduled flights.

“DMIA is very much capable to handle diverted flights,” Luciano said as he assured the safety of the passengers.

De Jesus recently led an inter-agency meeting composed of representatives of NAIA, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Civil Aviation Board (CAB), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and CIAC headed by Luciano where they discussed the adoption of the CAB Policy to formulate Rules and Procedures dealing with airline passenger protection during long tarmac delays.

The CAB Policy was patterned before the United States to make safer regulations for air carriers during times of disaster and emergency.

These sets the conduct of regular consultation meetings with stakeholders, consumer groups, the CAAP, airport authorities, the DTI and other interested parties that shall culminate in a public hearing geared towards the finalization and adoption of such Rules and Procedures in compliance with the requirements of the Administrative code.

Arcilla said a Preliminary Conference is slated on July 27, 2010 at the CAB Board Room to discuss the Rules and Procedures on the Protection of Airlines Passengers During Long Tarmac Delays.

The CIAC management had already met with various ground handlers at DMIA for them to ready their equipment and services anytime to accommodate the needs of air carriers including passengers that would be diverted at DMIA. Rendy Isip

Moreover, providing for better infrastructure to and from Central Luzon and onward to Northern Luzon can actually help broaden San Miguel’s market and improve access to it. In terms of logistics and transportation, having better roads will make it easier for goods and people to go around.

At the rate San Miguel is investing in business other than its core of food and beverage, it is quite likely the Cojuangco-chaired company will soon be truly diversified as a global business conglomerate.

Locally, San Miguel is also into power through distributor Manila Electric Co.; telecommunications via Liberty Telecoms; oil refining and retailing through Petron Corp. It has also reportedly expressed interest in the potable water source development project in Laiban Dam in Tanay, Rizal.

Abroad, San Miguel has been reportedly offered by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. a stake in PT Adaro Energy, an Indonesia-based integrated coal mining and trading company.

Why toll roads? In San Miguel’s case, to sell its consumer goods, it doesn’t necessarily have to own the roads going to its market particularly in North Luzon. But in terms of additional revenue source, a toll road is a massive cash generator daily. And this makes the possible investment in the Tarlac-La Union highway very interesting. If San Miguel is just sitting on cash anyway, then it might as well invest in a toll road.

The Tarlac-La Union Expressway involves the construction of an 88.5-km, four-lane expressway from La Paz, Tarlac, to Rosario, La Union. Construction reportedly started in September and is targeted for completion in 2012. Of the total project cost, 57 percent or P8.59 billion will be financed through loans, and 24 percent or P3.68 billion from equity. The remaining 19 percent, about P2.91 billion, will be provided by the government in the form of a subsidy.

One news report quoted Isidro Consunji, president of DMCI Holdings, as saying that San Miguel was already doing a due diligence on the road project. “I think SMC is interested in getting 49 percent, with an option to go up to 51 percent,” he said. Consunji’s company leads the consortium of local private contractors offering to build the expressway.

An interesting twist in this tale is a possible competition to San Miguel, courtesy of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which recently completed its purchase of a controlling stake in Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) from the Lopez group for P12.2 billion. Through an older firm, Metro Pacific’s Manny Pangilinan is already associated with the Metro Manila Skyway project. But the latest acquisition from the Lopez group invariably makes his group the undisputed biggest toll roads operator in the country.

MNTC was a gem of a purchase. It was previously granted the contract to build, operate and maintain the 83.7-km North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) and the 8.5-km Subic-Tipo Expressway; and to build and operate the proposed link of C-5 to the Manila Port Area that will cross the Nlex near the Valenzuela interchange.

Also, with the purchase, Metro Pacific gained the right to participate in the operation of the SCTEx segment that directly links Subic Bay Freeport and the Clark Economic Zone; as well as participate in the concession to build the Tarlac-La Union Expressway.

Just recently, San Miguel already won over Pangilinan’s group in bidding for a substantial stake in the Lopezes’ Manila Electric Co. And this might just prompt San Miguel’s way to leave the toll roads business to new toll road king Manny Pangilinan.

The Tarlac-La Union Expressway project may yet be a strategic piece of the Pangilinan initiative. For sure, it will complement Metro Pacific’s control of toll roads in Central and Northern Luzon. Moreover, it will also complement Pangilinan’s reported interest in bidding for the planned $3-billion high-speed rail project that will connect the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Parañaque City.

As noted by Victor Jose Luciano, Clark International Airport Corp. president and CEO, Pangilinan’s advantage is his ability to provide the right of way for the proposed high-speed rail from Caloocan City to Magallanes in Makati City. And with this right of way, he says, Naia can finally be connected to Clark. As for the right of way from Caloocan City to Clark, the matter is nearly settled, he adds.

One can only hope that Pangilinan seriously considers building the proposed railway. But in case he changes his mind, maybe San Miguel can consider the same. After all, its benefits to the economy can be tremendous. And a new public-private partnership on a major infrastructure project such as this is also a good way to pump-prime a struggling economy.

Marvin A. Tort is a veteran business journalist. He is a former Managing Editor of BusinessWorld and also a former chairman of the Philippine Press Council. He is presently into various businesses including gaming and IT, as well as advertising, and business and communication consulting. He also writes a twice-weekly column for the BusinessMirror.

The state-run Clark Development Corp. had been planning to establish the much-vaunted “Next Frontier” in the Sacobia Valley and the reports that the 600th ABW will be transferred to the deeply contested area was misleading. 600th ABW Commander Col. Francisco Cruz could only scratch his head in disbelief as the PAF chief summoned him to explain.

I came across Col. Cruz during the simple cocktail party at the Mimosa Resorts recently accorded to him and former 600th ABW Commander Col. Alejandro Camagay. Cruz said the scribe got it all wrong because they are considering Basa Air Base in Floridablanca town or Crow Valley in Tarlac and not in the CDC’s “Next Frontier.”

“I’m hoping that this is not a send-off party,” Cruz told Clark International Airport Corp. president and CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano, EVP/COO Alexander S. Cauguiran, CDC president and CEO Benny Ricafort and CIAC officials. “I hope that we can nurture the partnership that we have forged,” said Camagay. “This is going to be a partnership. Our partnership is very much stronger in Clark.”

For his part, Luciano said CIAC and PAF have “an imaginary boundary and we are going in one direction.”

More Clark entitlements

The Philippine Air Panel who went to Finland for rounds of air talk scored another monumental success for the overall development of the Clark airport as the Philippines’ future premier gateway. Both Philippine and Finland air panels reviewed the existing Air Services Agreement (ASA), the bilateral framework that identifies frequency, capacity, route, type of aircraft and volume of cargo that can be conducted in pair-countries—and made some adjustments.

During the talks held in Helsinki last September 29 to 30, 2008, the RP Air Panel headed by Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Doroteo Reyes Jr. was able to secure new entitlements for the Philippines particularly the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.

For the route Clark-Points in Finland, seven weekly frequencies had been allotted and vice-versa for a total of 14 flights per week. For the route Manila-Finland (Helsinki), four weekly frequencies had been allotted and vice-versa for a total of eight flights per week; and to the route between Points in the Philippines except Manila and Clark-Points in Finland, seven weekly frequencies had been allotted and vice-versa for a total of 14 flights per week. For cargo, 700 tons weekly capacity had been allotted for the route Clark/Subic-Finland V.V. and vice versa. Well, we need these entitlements for Clark—the more the better.