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Friday, March 28, 2003
Roperos: CAB’s unpardonable sin
By Godofredo M. Roperos
RIGHT now, we are a nation gravely in need of funds to operate the government. And here is a government agency that was in position to help ease the heavy financial burden of public administration but instead wasted an estimated P3.3 billion in potential revenues because it valued more the interest of a “sacred cow” than that of the nation. I believe that such an act of incompetence, probably done deliberately, is unpardonable and unforgivable, to say the least.
Why, in heaven’s name, have the people been given the kind of man now heading the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), one who is tied to certain vested interest groups and who therefore had a hidden agenda that obviously influenced the Board’s policy decisions? Don’t look now, but I think people who work with the government but who hold at the same time certain interests and loyalties that run counter to the public interest that his office is sanctioned to serve without bias or favor can be considered as having betrayed public trust.
The CAB case was uncovered during a Senate probe into the various air treaties and agreements the Philippine government may have gone into without the knowledge of Congress. One of these agreements was with the Japanese government, which reportedly granted our country four and a half airport slots in Japan for use by any Philippine commercial lines plying the Philippine-Japan route. The Senate inquiry learned that Japan later withdrew the slots, as the Philippines did not use them.
It seems that despite the plea of Philippine Air Lines to be given the slot, CAB refused to release them. It seems he had earlier assigned the slot to another airline “that was not yet ready to fly international.” In so doing, Sen. Joker Arroyo bewailed, government lost tremendous amount of uncollected revenues. PAL, so the report said, had worked for the slots for about ten years, and yet when it was given, an incompetent official lost it.
It appeared that the Japanese government took the slots back last November 2002 after these were not used after one year. The slots were deemed forfeited and given to other airlines of other countries. This has proved very costly to the government, reportedly prompting Senator Arroyo, chairman of the committee on public services, to recommend the reduction of CAB’s appropriation. According to him, every time they deal with the CAB, they “go in circus.” This always happens when the office chief has a hidden agenda.
The Senate committees on public services and foreign relations undertook the joint hearings in compliance to Senate resolutions 527 and 533 filed by two Cebuano senators, Sergio Osmena III and Vicente Sotto III, both scions of former Cebuano senators and named after their distinguished forebears.
Interestingly, the airlines that should have been beneficiary of the forfeited slots, PAL, is also headed by a Cebuano-Chinese taipan, Mr. Lucio Tan. It is thus a clear case of Cebuanos helping one another.
In any case, the hearing also reportedly unearthed the existence of a Filipino organization that is said to be working for a foreign interest. Called Accelerated Growth in Investment Liberalization and Equity (Agile), its members is said to have already infiltrated various line agencies of the government, occupying positions that have something to do with policy planning processes. Cited is one NGO called Freedom to Fly Coalition (FFC), known to be involved in the open skies lobby. FFC reportedly admits to getting financial support from foreign sources, although it did not mention Agile.
But I believe what is most rewarding about this particular joint Senate hearings—as you know, I have always considered congressional hearings as expensive, time-consuming, and useless—is the identification reportedly of one member of the CAB as being once a member of the FFC. Hence, being in the CAB now, he is in a most ideal position to influence the board’s policies to suit the interest of certain FFC clients. For this man, it is like baking the cake and eating it, too.
(March 28, 2003 issue)
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