Tourism groups urge new DOTC chief to review RP-Singapore pact

Tourism groups have urged newly designated Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza to review the Philippine-Singapore air agreement signed on Aug. 25, 2001, saying its signing was unlawful and prejudiced Philippine carriers.

Speaking on behalf of the Save Our Skies (SOS) movement, lawyer Roehl Galandines, counsel for SOS, said Mendoza should seize the opportunity to correct the unlawful signing of the air agreement by then DOTC Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez.

Galandines said Alvarez acted with grave abuse of discretion and in excess of jurisdiction in entering into signing the confidential memorandum of understanding on air transport between the Philippines and Singapore. A petition has been filed by the SOS against Alvarez before the Supreme Court enjoining him from implementing the agreement as well as to have it declared null and void.

In the petition, the SOS said Alvarez "utterly disregarded the official position of the previous RP air panel and patently disregarded the lawful procedure in entering into said treaty on international agreement."

The previous air panel decided to defer plans to hold air talks with Singapore, as there was no urgency in coming up with an agreement and because of serious concern against it. The panel instead agreed to hold bilateral talks with Japan and Korea where, it determined, there are growing tourist markets.

The existing RP-Singapore agreement then already allowed for over 630,000 seats a year despite a total market size of only 158,784 passengers, or an excess of 328 percent. Likewise, the airline seat-tourist ratio then was 14 seats to one tourist.

A Civil Aeronautic Board (CAB) official, who warned Alvarez against entering into the agreement, then said the new pact with Singapore would have no real benefit to the Philippines in terms of tourism or market development, but instead have a serious negative effect on the development of the country’s airline industry.

Galandines said that despite the dire warnings issued by the previous air panel and the CAB official, Alvarez hastily entered into the agreement with Singapore even though he did not have the authority to represent the Philippines.

He said that with Mendoza at the helm of the DOTC, he can correct the mistakes committed by Alvarez by calling for the review of the agreement or even nullifying it as it involves the national interest.

Galandines said Philippine carriers and the users of air transport services, including tour and tourism groups, were not consulted during the negotiation of the agreement.

"We are still of the belief that the new accord with Singapore would not benefit the country’s tourism and even hamper the growth of the local airline industry," he stressed.

SOS is a non-governmental organization (NGO) made up of travel and tour operators, freight forwarders and other tourism-related business. It is fighting for the protection of local industries. While it does not object to globalization, it wants local industries to be protected under trade liberation.