On the aviation sector: PHL has a lot of work to do, says MBC

Apart from authorizing the “pocket" open skies policy, the Aquino administration still has a lot of work to do to boost the country’s aviation sector, the Makati Business Club said Friday. “Developing and improving our airports, attracting investments in tourism establishments, upgrading our unique products and services, and addressing the security risks identified by the US Federal Aviation Authority… are the next big steps that we hope the Aquino administration will pursue," MBC executive director Peter Angelo Perfecto said in a statement. He said the group “commends" the present administration for issuing Executive Order 29, which authorizes the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Philippine Air Panels to offer and promote more liberalized international aviation agreements with foreign carriers. “This policy development is a milestone for the Aquino administration, signifying the government’s determined commitment to attain sustainable and inclusive growth for the country," Perfecto said. The issuance of EO 29, signed together with EO 28, which reconstitutes and reorganizes the Philippine Air Panels, is a “clear indication" of the government’s focus and dedication to strategic actions aimed at direct economic growth, he added. The President signed EOs 28 and 29 last month. Perfecto said the MBC “fully support[s] this aggressive stance on liberalizing civil aviation." “Opening our major and secondary gateways to foreign carriers will boost tourism, bolster our competitiveness as an investment location, and open vast economic opportunities in every region in the Philippines," he explained. Reciprocal benefit Without the executive order, the targets of attracting six million tourists, collecting $18.5 billion in tourism receipts, and creating three million new tourism jobs by 2016 “will likely just end up as — like many other ambitious goals in the past — missed targets," Perfecto said. Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim was the former executive director of the business club. Perfecto, also the group’s spokesperson, said the absence of air rights reciprocity is “not an indication of the absence of any form of reciprocity." “The economic potential of EO 29, especially in bringing in more tourists resulting in the generation of new jobs and the stimulation of the local economy, is the reciprocal benefit of the open skies policy that is expected to impact millions of Filipinos," Perfecto added. — JE, GMA News