Air Force can maintain, fly airplanes for Cebu City: Tom

IF Cebu City pushes through with the purchase of aircrafts of the Department of Education (DepEd), it will be City Hall’s contribution to the Philippine Air Force (PAF), said Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district).

Osmeña said the City Government can sign an agreement with PAF, which lacks planes.

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“We can make a deal...with the Air Force where they will supply the pilots and the mechanics. Simple. The Air Force has plenty of pilots and mechanics but they don’t have airplanes. You don’t have any planes? Here, we have these for servicing.

I’m sure they will be very happy because their pilots will have flying hours. Only base it in SRP (South Road Properties),” said Osmeña.

With its own aircraft, Osmeña said the city will be in a better position to immediately send reconnaissance teams during disasters.

The former mayor said in a press conference yesterday that the planes the city will purchase can also be chartered out.

“I’m not saying we can make money out of this but there will be revenues that we can take advantage of that can help offset the costs…There are so many possibilities down the road,” he said.

Former councilor Sylvan Jakosalem said the planes can be rented out to tourists for sightseeing for P7,000 an hour, the going rate of planes in Lapu-Lapu City.

When sought for comment, however, Mayor Michael Rama said he is not considering having the planes rented out.

“When has the city gone into the business of renting out planes? We use planes, even rent them but offering them for rent is different. That’s not in my mind. Government really is public service,” he said in Bisaya.

Rama said in a separate news conference that a study should be conducted first before the City purchases an airplane.

“I need to know about the whole thing (first) because as I have said it has to do with ROI (return of investment) and cost analysis,” he said.

“When you are not a business, not a corporation, lahi man gud ang public funds.

Public funds are different because people would always ask. The council even scrutinized funds for the band even when it was meant for the workers,” he said.

Msgr. Achilles Dakay, Cebu Archdiocese media liaison officer, however, said City Hall should allocate its funds for cleaning the city’s streets and infrastructure and clearing these of vandals, garbage and vagrants.

“Rather than planes, why not spend it on erasing unnecessary signage in flyovers and skyways and keeping the streets clean,” Dakay said.

He cited as example D. Jakosalem St., which he described as the dirtiest in the city because of the presence of vagrants and the proliferation of vandalism.

He also said that marks on infrastructure projects such as the names of politicians should be removed.

“You can’t use planes to solve such problems because you can’t see the real situation of the city below, from the plane,” said Dakay.