Philippines lands 6th place

The Philippines, with only 4.8 million in tourist arrivals for 2014, is way behind five other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

Thailand is way ahead in first place with 26.5 million tourist arrivals. Malaysia is a close second with 25.7 tourist arrivals while third is Singapore who welcomed 15.8 million visitors.

The main reason for the low 4.8 million tourist arrivals is lack of infrastructure to tourist attractions – the poor condition of our airport, including traffic congestion in the air with flights getting delayed; and the poor peace and order condition.

Definitely, the ambitious plan of the administration’s 10 million target number of tourist arrivals (per year), as announced by the President three years ago in his SONA 2012, by 2016 cannot be attained. To attract tourists, the tourism department came up with a marketing campaign slogan “It’s more fun in the Philippines.”

But the latest figures show the Aquino government is far from achieving the tourist arrival target, which the tourism department earlier admitted the 10-million international tourist arrival target by 2016 remains a long shot.

By the same token, the 10 million target new jobs to be created by 2016 cannot be achieved.

Agriculture is in the doldrums and will be further aggravated by the forthcoming El Niño and the horrible traffic problems everywhere. Our light rail system, which would help ease the traffic congestion in Metro Manila, is still in a bad state. So is it more fun in the Philippines?

The presidential aspirant Vice President Jejomar Binay said he will support the PPPs for the country’s economic growth, emphasizing he will get the PPP projects done quickly, not just Power Point Presentation only.

The Aquino administration is ending its six-year term with many failures.

2015, a bad year for P-Noy

2015 so far has been a bad year for President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr.

January started on the wrong foot with the Mamasapano massacre clash, which killed 44 elite policemen. The Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) was not passed last June and is not sure of passage by October. Along with the higher poverty ratings, the unemployment rate is higher and so is the underemployment rate. The traffic mess has gone from bad to worse.

In an earlier report of London-based think tank, the Philippines remains one of the poorest in Southeast Asia despite robust economic growth in the past few years, with a lower level of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per head than the majority of the region’s other major economies.

The murders and extrajudicial killings are at an all-time high.  To date, 29 journalists have been killed. The balikbayan box fiasco happened last month, raising a big howl from overseas Filipino workers (OFW).

Rice self-sufficiency has not been achieved.

Despite three meetings, President Aquino was unable to convince Senator Grace Poe to run as vice president of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

Many cases have been filed in the Supreme Court (SC) questioning the legality of executive actions, including the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel. The High Court even granted bail to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile that led the Office of the Ombudsman to file a motion for reconsideration.

Political update

Nacionalista Party (NP)’s Alan Peter Cayetano said his door is open to a team up with Senator Mar Roxas.

It looks like three NP senators will be running for vice president. Senator Antonio Trillanes said he is running as an independent candidate.

Senator Bongbong Marcos is being courted by the camps of Vice President Binay and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Vice President Binay met with 40 Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) leaders at the NPC Clubhouse yesterday noon. NPC secretary general Mark Mendoza is running for governor of Batangas.

Senator Poe submitted a 107-page verified document to the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) to prove her citizenship.

Tidbits

Ilocos Times columnist Steve Barreiro was gunned down in front of his daughter in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte. Suspect Oliver Doctor was the former husband of the victim’s current girlfriend.

Pedestrian Francisco Salazar died after being hit by a Philippine National Railway (PNR) train along Vito Cruz in Manila. Injured Ariel Nieto remains in critical condition.

Manny Pacquiao said he has several more fights left in him. Contrary to what his promoter Bob Arum said that he has only one more fight left.

Former district supervisor Isabel Muyargas and her grandson Ismael Kyle Hamad were abducted in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay. The abductors were believed to be members of a kidnap-for-ransom group.

Photojournalist Edong Reyes lost nearly P100,000 worth of valuables when thieves broke into his van in Quirino Avenue, Manila.

On their first day back on Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare yesterday, Highway Patrol Group (HPG) Director Chief Superintendent Arnold Gunnacao said the biggest problem in EDSA traffic is the volume of the vehicles, which is aggravated by motorists not following the lanes scheme.

Two carjackers were killed by Quezon City Police District (QCPD) while manning a checkpoint along NIA Road, Quezon City.