Bangon tourism

I first heard of Bangon Tourism, a DOT program, during the New Year’s Eve concert of Patti Austin at the Fairmont Makati. Poor Ms. Austin couldn’t pronounce “bangon” even if her life depended on it. She made fun of her difficulty as she gamely tried to say the word as best as she can.

Bangon tourism, the concept, is a good one and I salute DOT for making lemonade out of the lemons they have after Yolanda and the Bohol earthquake. I have always thought that tourists shouldn’t cancel their plans to visit because of the natural calamities. On the contrary, now is the time the locals need them more.

I was in Tacloban last Sunday and that visit convinced me that all of us should find time to go and visit. Tacloban had never really been a top rate tourist destination even before Yolanda, at least not one that compares with Bohol. But there is a different reason why we should visit Tacloban today: to put pressure on government to move faster.

 It has been two months and two weeks since Yolanda and Tacloban still looks like a zombie town. Debris from Yolanda is still piled up in many of the main roads. The power of the storm is evident not just in blown away roofs but also in twisted steel trusses. Many large houses seem abandoned, as are business establishments. The airport is a mess.

The presence of foreign governments and international organizations is a strong morale booster. The South Koreans are most impressive with a commitment to stay a year with a battalion of soldiers helping rebuild public infrastructure. And they brought their own trucks and other equipment.

Tents from UNHCR and tarpaulins on top of damaged roofs are all over. I also saw the controversial bunkhouses and they look like top of the line shanties at best. Many residents are still on relief mode.

It broke my heart to see the UP Oblation amidst the rubble left by Yolanda in UP’s campus in Palo. What made the pain bearable is the knowledge that ABS-CBN’s Sagip Kapamilya has committed to help build some classrooms for UP Tacloban’s Health Sciences School in another area.

The only new construction post-Yolanda is a four classroom school building built by ABS-CBN’s Sagip Kapamilya. Ted Failon who shepherded the project told me they built it in just 30 days.

Plans were coordinated with DepEd, design services were donated by a concerned architect and they had to bring building materials all the way from Manila. The schoolrooms came complete with well made plastic desks from the maker of such desks for La Salle. And each classroom had its own toilet facility.

But the new school building is but one tiny flicker of light in the darkness. The rehab needs are just humongous. And even where the new school building is, other classrooms are still located in tents. Gov Dominic Petilla talked to us about the need to rehab the various provincial hospitals too.

Two months after, we can safely blame Tacloban Mayor Romualdez for the messy way the city’s main streets look like. By now he should have already cleared the debris and made some effort to put on a happier face on his city. It is psychologically difficult for the Taclobanons to rise and help themselves, to bangon so to speak, in such depressing conditions.

I was hoping to see a city that is busy reconstructing by now but it seems that Tacloban’s own movers and shakers in the private business, sector are still out of town. A number of nice looking houses looked abandoned, because many of those who were looted or otherwise traumatized by Yolanda’s impact are still taking time away from Tacloban.

That’s why more of the country’s citizens, specially the movers and shakers in society and business must visit Tacloban. All you noisy bloggers and Facebook netizens with instant opinions should go and take a first hand view of what’s going on there to earn the right to rant on social media.

Indeed, if there are more visitors to Tacloban in the next few months, owners of damaged hotels and other tourism facilities will be encouraged to more aggressively rebuild. We have to make sure Tacloban remains top of mind in both mainstream and social media.

For Bohol and Busuanga/Coron, there is really no excuse not to proceed with vacation plans there. The tourism industry in both areas is alive and ready to welcome their usual number of visitors.

Some old churches in Bohol may have been completely toppled but the ruins are no less awesome. Seeing the damage inflicted by the earthquake and the typhoon delivers a strong message to visitors about man’s insignificance in the face of the powerful wrath of Mother Nature.    

Tourism numbers

Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez told Business Mirror’s Stella Arnaldo that he believes the Philippines can attract 5.7 million visitors this year: “It’s doable. We just have to focus on the right markets.”

Yes, Sec. Mon, sure… tell me what conditions that caused DOT to miss its target last year will change this year?

Sec. Mon talks about giving our infrastructure time to catch up. He seems to have bought the excuse of DOTC that bidding out corruption-free projects takes more time… even an eternity.

By infrastructure, Jimenez refers to key airports around the country slated for rehabilitation or expansion, as well as a full use of the runway and three terminals at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.

According to Stella, who covers DOT regularly, Sec. Mon told her in an earlier interview that infrastructure and capacity issues would be resolved by 2015. Hahaha! I dare Sec. Mon to say that now with a straight face!

I have seen DOTC’s schedules, I have sat down recently with DOTC usec Timmy Limcaoco. I am not convinced they will deliver any finished airport projects by June 2016 unless miracles happen and they discover a sense of urgency. It is just two and a half years away.

Maybe Sec. Mon should put his sights lower and just get DOTC to move faster on providing night landing facilities in some of the airports as promised yet by Mar Roxas when he was DOTC Sec. Those night landing facilities will allow the airlines to have more flights and not cluster their flights to NAIA during daytime hours and aggravate NAIA’s congestion.

Indeed, even the Cagayan de Oro airport which P-Noy proudly inaugurated, does not have night landing facilities and only operates under visual flight rules. All airports should allow airlines to operate under instrument flight rules. That will help get more planes in and out safely.

When we flew into Tacloban last Sunday under a drizzle, it took us three attempts before we were finally able to land. Okay the airport was severely damaged by Yolanda so that explains why it is operating under primitive conditions. But Tacloban had always been like this. The question is, for how long pa?

Airline fuel taxes

Fuel used for international flights are supposed to be tax free. Somehow, we found a way to tax anyway… another headache for Tourism Secretary Jimenez. Here is part of an e-mail I recently received from the Board of Airline Representatives.

Manila is now the most expensive place in Asia to fuel an aircraft.  The taxes change Manila costs from being USD12c/US Gallon (USG) to USD81c/USG higher than Singapore and from USD10c/USG less than Tokyo Narita to USD59c/USG more than Tokyo Narita.

The taxes include VAT and an excise tax. Due to various specific legal restrictions, fuel suppliers are not permitted to recover VAT or Excise taxes directly from foreign carriers. Instead, the suppliers are forced to increase their per gallon fuel rate to recover their own tax costs. 

Regardless, the airlines ultimately bear the additional expense. Fuel companies have been unable to recover VAT since 2010 and a Supreme Court decision in 2012 prevents the BIR from providing excise tax relief to the fuel companies for fuel used for international flying.

 The BIR supports a refund of the VAT (USD37c/USG), but a decision remains pending with the Commission on Audit…

This unfortunate and avoidable set of circumstances will see a combination of higher charges for consumers and reduced flying to the Philippines with attendant reductions in tourism and trade said Steven Crowdey, BAR’s vice chairman…

IATA suggests 19,000 jobs will be lost, primarily tourism related, as a result of passing on excise taxes alone.

C-130 

Ted Failon was relating his conversation with the crew of a Philippine Air Force C-130 as they observed the later model C-130s of the US and other countries in Tacloban. Ted said he asked the PAF crew member what is the model year of our C-130.

“It is 1980,” the crew member answered but quickly added, “but don’t worry sir, our C-130 is more experienced than theirs.”

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