More solons back ‘open skies’ policy
MANILA – Calls for the adoption of the proposed “open skies” policy continue to gather strength at the House of Representatives following the declaration of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. that he fully supports the idea of allowing foreign carriers to land directly in the country, especially in selected tourist destinations, from their airports of origin.
This developed as Valenzuela City Rep. Rex Gatchalian, spokesman of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, urged his colleagues to support his proposed legislation that seeks to adopt the open skies policy “as a means to jumpstart the economic activities and promote the tourism industry in the country.”
“I think that now, more than ever, is the perfect time to consider the proposal (on open skies policy), especially since we are now on the brink of making a breakthrough as far as making the country as one of the top and most popular tourist destinations in the world,” Gatchalian said in a statement.
“I always believe that the adoption of open skies policy is an effective way to encourage foreign tourists and business investors in coming over to the country,” he noted.
Belmonte earlier said he is supporting the proposal to allow foreign carriers to enter the Philippines “but only in selected tourist destinations in the country.”
“We should allow foreign airlines to enter the country but only in selected tourist destinations and other sites that will be developed as tourists’ hubs later on,” he said.
Belmonte explained that the open skies policy “doesn’t mean that any foreign carriers can fly to any part of the Philippines. They will be allowed only to enter Philippine skies in partnership with the local airlines like the Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific and others.”
He said constitutional restrictions limit foreign ownership in transportation companies, which have congressional franchises, to 40 percent.
“Due to prohibition, partnering with local entities is the only way for foreign groups to gain a foothold in the local industry,” he added.
Belmonte said foreign airlines can take advantage of expanding other routes to the country like Manila and Cebu.
“From Cebu, tourists can easily include in their itinerary the famous beaches of Boracay and Bohol,” he added.
Belmonte said that by allowing foreign carriers to fly direct to some tourist destinations in the country, foreign visitors do not need to spend more for connecting flights to get to their target tourist destinations.
He said tourist sites like Boracay and Cebu are being serviced by some foreign airlines in partnership with the country’s local airlines.
“Cebu and Bohol are two places being frequented by foreign tourists. There is a need to expand these types of tourist destinations and open up more direct flights in other areas of the country,” he said.
President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has said he is open to the idea of opening the country’s air routes to foreign airlines.
The President said that the best means to realize the country’s business and tourism potentials is for the legislature to craft laws that would liberalize policies on air travels.
“Today’s trend is about international cooperation. If we want to move ahead as a country, then we should discard outdated policies that tend to pull us back for being too restrictive and protective and replace them with new rules that could lead us to progress but with special emphasis on retaining our national sovereignty and security,” he stressed.*PNA
