No one wants to buy PAL?

It now seems that Lucio Tan will not be able to sell PAL to anyone any time soon. Not to a Filipino group anyway. Manny Pangilinan just said it would be awkward for him to buy PAL now that the Gokongweis of Cebu Pacific are his partners at PLDT. I had lunch with San Miguel’s Ramon S. Ang last week and he said, he can produce better results and faster in San Miguel’s other businesses with the billion dollars needed to rehabilitate PAL. (San Miguel is still waiting for government final approval for their unsolicited bid to build MRT-7 to Bulacan and a reaction from DOTC to their offer to rehabilitate PNR, extend it to Laoag and to Sorsogon at no cost to government.)

RSA told me he understands the problems of PAL, being a pilot himself who is familiar with aircraft operations. PAL’s aircrafts are either on lease or even those that the airline owns are beyond their service years or will soon be. An investor, he explained, can’t make money flying aircrafts that consume 30 percent more fuel than the latest models PAL’s competitors use. In so many words, RSA is virtually saying there is nothing to buy in PAL for an investor like him.

But RSA was once interested in acquiring PAL. He sent his investment bankers to do due diligence on the airline. That’s why he knows what financial resources are needed to make PAL really fly. Some of RSA’s aides told me he once told them PAL was a done deal but he changed his mind once the numbers came in. RSA said it would be better to start a new airline using the low cost carrier model than to try to rehab PAL, a legacy carrier.

RSA also told me that Philippine skies have now become extremely competitive. Even Cebu Pacific has started giving up margins and that has now affected their bottom line because of the cut throat pricing of AirPhil Express and Zest Air. Then there is Air Asia Philippines that is authorized to fly the Philippine domestic routes. Maybe, he surmised, it is not the time to start a new airline, much less buy a dinosaur airline like PAL.

Lucio Tan is apparently stuck in PAL in the foreseeable future. For as long as he is alive, he may feel the need to continually put money to finance its losing operations due to sheer ego considerations. His heirs may not be as disposed to throwing good money after bad.

International aviation is in a difficult situation too… witness the Qantas strike that was settled only after a court order was issued. And yes, Singapore Airlines just inaugurated another budget carrier a low cost long haul airline called Scoot. That’s in addition to Tiger Airways that Singapore Air already partly owns. Scoot will fly to China and Australia, countries PAL already flies to.

NAIA 1

My high school schoolmate who made the Hotdog band famous, Dennis Garcia, turned out to be one of those appointed by Sec Mar Roxas to the committee overseeing NAIA 1’s extreme makeover. He reassured me in an e-mail that they will move fast. “Don’t worry, Boo. I will keep you posted on the NAIA rehab board. Mar got me ata cos I’m an impatient, hard-to-please whiner and he KNOWS that I hate committees. Anyway, he is truly sincere in wanting changes to happen fast. And the nice thing is... he has the funds to get things moving.”

Incidentally, Dennis is opening his very first art exhibit next Tuesday, Nov. 8 and will be up to the 22nd. “Rakenrol” will be happening at GALERIEONE workshop, Suite 324, LRI Design Plaza, Nicanor Garcia St, Bel Air II, Makati City.

Says Dennis: “I’ve been working on the pieces since last year. These are mostly acrylic paintings over giclee prints (images I shot and manipulated on the computer, then printed on canvas). I was inspired by the witty work of graffiti artist Banksy and the undiscovered gems on canvas by Sir Paul (McCartney).

“As the exhibit’s name hints, the paintings will revolve around music and band musicians. It also features Pinoys from the past – whose temperaments – make it quite likely that they would have become ‘rockers’ – if they were still young... and alive today.” Imagine Jose Rizal as a rock star!

Dennis says doing this exhibit is part of his bucket list… Dennis said he learned to paint around two years ago (with a Dutch artist in Bali, Indonesia) using his hands/fingers as a brush. Dennis is always busy doing many things at a time. He is currently into producing virals on the Internet and his first short film (to be shot in Ilocos Norte). He writes a Friday column in Abante... and a deliriously successful blog CHUBIBO. He is also almost done with an album of his solo compositions (Dennis Garcia Songbook)... And the big one: Annie B, The Musical (due November, 2012).

Whew!!! What a guy! And here is Dennis’s promise to those who will come and visit his exhibit: “It is witty…irreverent… down to earth… RAKENROL does for Pinoy art what Manila sound did for Pinoy music in the ‘70s. Grabbed it from the elitists and made it accessible even to those, who never in their wildest dreams, imagined spending time in an art gallery…” Dennis should show his work in the malls to bring it closer to the people.

Domestic tourism

A reader, Carmen Echevarria, wrote me an e-mail narrating her experiences as a domestic tourist. Maybe DOT and local tour operators can learn from her.        

I recently availed of PAL’s Fly Pinas Pass, allowing me to fly to as many local destinations as I want over a seven week period. First time I saw the Philippines through a tourist’s eyes – and I’m hooked!

We have so much to offer! Boracay’s beaches, Mayon’s breathtakingly perfect cone shape, Puerto Princesa’s underground river, Vigan’s Calle Crisologo. . . and while I was initially fearful of terrorism in the South, I felt very safe in Zamboanga, where everyone was so friendly. (When I was asking a saleslady in a tiny shop how to get to the yakan weaving village, she offered to accompany me to the jeepney terminal at the public market, several blocks away! Such kindness!)

With so many things going for us, there are also many things going against us:

Local travel is sooo expensive! Macau airfare is just a fraction of the cost of Batanes. And I was able to scour the Internet for a suite at the Macau Venetian (comfortable for 6 pax) that’s cheaper than Fundacion Pacita. . . So yes, we went to Macau instead of Batanes.

With the exception of Puerto Princesa, I felt that local airport taxi/tricycle drivers preyed on tourists who were still unfamiliar with local transport. At Cagayan De Oro, I assumed that by getting a taxi from what appeared to be the authorized queue, I’d be getting a fair deal. No way. The taxi dispatcher insisted P400 standard rate to city. I felt so cheated I decided to cut short my CDO stay, and opted to spend more time in Camiguin.

I also wish places like Laoag could have organized van tours that would pickup individuals from hotels and tour them around. I had to hire the entire van just for me and my elderly mom - though I’m sure many other tourists would be taking the same route (Burgos lighthouse, Bangui windmills and Pagudpud).  Again, I like how cost-efficient it was for me to tour Puerto Princesa alone, sharing a van with 9 other strangers.

I also wish that the local tourism offices could be more helpful. Brochures at the airports, with maps, suggested itineraries, and DIY travel directions (which jeepney route passes by Cagsawa?) Right now, I do most of my research through travel blogs, but day-to-day research in places with weak wifi is so frustrating!

And finally, when I got back to Manila, I enjoyed a sunset cruise and the Luneta Park fountains. We then went to Intramuros for coffee. But is it true that you need to get permits (2k for Intramuros and 1k for Luneta) to use an SLR camera? And that this applies only to locals? Insane!

I hope that we can make local traveling more affordable. You can’t expect Filipinos to rave about places they themselves haven’t seen. Meanwhile, maybe the DOT can come up with a strategy to encourage local tourists to participate in a marketing campaign? Simple but well-promoted suggestions, like Bessie Badilla’s invite to upload photos. Or even to just be active in international travel forums like Trip Advisor.

Worry

Worrying works! 90% of the things I worry about never happen.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. He is also on Twitter @boochanco