MVP’s new plane

The First Pacific Board of Directors early December approved the purchase of a new business jet for the use of the chairman and its top executives. The new Global Express business jet, manufactured by Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier Aerospace, is expected to be delivered at the PLDT hangar mid-January 2013. A number of major corporations in the Philippines have been operating their own business jets like the Ayala Corp., the SM Group, Ricky Razon’s ICTSI, the Aboitiz Group and San Miguel Equities, to name a few.

The new aircraft is considered to be an important and useful tool for Manny Pangilinan who has plans of expanding his businesses towards the Southeast Asian region, and maybe even as far as Europe and the US with so many opportunities opening up.

The Canadian-made business jet Global Express XRS is an ultra-long range, high-speed VIP aircraft whose high-tech features make it one of the most sought after business jets in the world.

It is equipped with a multi-scan weather radar – appropriate considering the vagaries of the weather, and generous space configurations that can incorporate private work stations (with provisions for group conferences or meetings) suitable for very busy executives who work virtually 24/7. The Global XRS can fly at an altitude of up to 51,000-ft., has a 6,000 nautical mile range at a speed of Mach 0.85, a maximum cruise speed of 950 kph and an average speed of 907 kph – with this kind of flexibility and efficiency, it cuts down on travel time, a factor that is often critical when you’re moving from one part of the globe to another.

In places like Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, the arrival of business jets is often cleared by Immigration and Customs authorities in just half an hour (maximum). This kind of efficiency obviously makes it very convenient for foreign businessmen who find themselves needing to fly from one destination to another in quick succession as they look for investment opportunities in the Asia Pacific region. The Philippines should start looking at embarking on business jet friendly terminals to give the country an added touch of proficiency as an investment destination.

Manny told us First Pacific is not turning its back on the Philippines. “On the contrary,” MVP said, they will continue to invest into the country while they eye global expansion plans. In fact, the availability of a corporate jet will give Manny Pangilinan the kind of flexibility to visit the Group’s various businesses and projects all over the country in the area of mining, agriculture, infrastructure and even hospitals. The PLDT chairman disclosed his vision in helping provide quality health care for many Filipinos all over the Philippines, which is why Metro Pacific has been investing in hospitals, the latest of which is the acquisition of a 51-percent majority stake in Delos Santos Hospital in Quezon City. Metro Pacific has previously acquired controlling stocks in six other hospitals, namely Makati Med, Asian Hospital, Cardinal Santos in San Juan, Riverside Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Manila and the Davao Doctors Hospital in Davao City.

Polo Club redevelopment

Plans are underway for the redevelopment of the Manila Polo Club townhouses, something which the MPC board plans to “proactively address” very soon since the current 25-year townhouse leases will expire in 2018. A concerned Polo club member sent a letter to MPC president Roman Azanza giving several suggestions on what to do with the property. One of the proposal is that any type of redevelopment to be undertaken in the future should only be for the “exclusive use and enjoyment of proprietary club members, and any part of the area should not be made commercial.”

Members naturally want to preserve the exclusivity of the Polo Club, which is why it is not surprising to hear that members do not want any part of the redevelopment to be sold, leased or opened for use to non-members. The involvement of non-MPC individuals should be limited to work pertinent to the redevelopment, such as professional consultants, construction managers, architects, interior designers, and project manager.

There are also suggestions that developers, particularly real estate brokers, should not be involved in the planning and design for the development, and that bidding for the project be advertised in major newspapers, obviously for the purpose of getting the best supplier at the best possible cost. The concerned MPC member is making sure all members are well aware of the latest  “development” on the “redevelopment.”

Air passenger rights violations?

In our column last December 20, we hailed the signing of Joint Administrative Order No. 1 or the “Air Passenger Bill of Rights” whose implementation became affective on December 21. We, however, received several complaints such as the one from Mrs. Rubirose Arguinsula who said she was one of the passengers of SEAir/Tiger Airways bound for Bacolod, Iloilo, Tacloban and Davao last December 22 who were “denied boarding at the very last minute” because of unavailability of seats, supposedly because the airline’s system overbooked tickets for some unknown reason. As a result, a planeload of passengers, both Filipino and foreigners, were reportedly left like sitting ducks at NAIA Terminal 4.

Worse, the airline crew reportedly refused to honor the terms and conditions relative to the purchase of the tickets as well as provisions stated in the Air Passenger Bill of Rights including denied boarding compensation. As if to add insult to injury, the airline personnel “would not even acknowledge our presence at the airport not until we approached the CAAP desk who interceded for us and promised us that this will be dealt with accordingly and promptly after the Christmas holidays.”

Hopefully, the DOTC will listen to these numerous complaints which we are forwarding to them.

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Spy Bits will take a holiday break and will be back on January 3, 2013. Happy New Year everyone!

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Email: [email protected].