Palace to issue EO on open skies policy this week

A Palace official has said that Malacañang will issue within the week an executive order formalizing President Benigno Aquino III's "pocket open skies policy." In an ambush interview Tuesday, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said the legal issuance will likely be released before Friday. Aquino said at a press briefing that the executive order (EO) will cover the country's secondary gateways, which includes airports except the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila. "Merong previous na [There’s a previous] EO that allowed this pocket open skies na tinatawag [so-called] so we are just reaffirming the same," Aquino said. Last November, Aquino said the government will implement EO 219 issued in 1995 by then President Fidel V. Ramos liberalizing the aviation industry by adopting a pocket open skies policy. Aquino said the government will "pursue the full implementation" of EO 219, which was issued to boost tourism and investments through a more liberal policy on international aviation. Under a pocket open skies policy, certain foreign carriers could be allowed to fly into and out of the country through certain airports in the Philippines except in the case of NAIA. Ochoa said the EO will cover, among others, the Mactan International Airport in Cebu and the Davao International Airport. Aquino said that apart from liberalizing the country's aviation policy, the government is also working to get the Philippines off the Category 2 listing by the US Federal Aviation Authority to encourage more tourism. A Category 2 listing means a country has failed the aviation safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization. —Jam L. Sisante/JV, GMANews.TV