Philippine Airlines in major route expansion
AFP/Manila
Philippine Airlines announced a major route expansion yesterday to better serve the army of Filipino expatriate workers in the Middle East.
As well as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, PAL added new routes to Australia, China and Malaysia as the company pursues a $10bn fleet overhaul that will more than double its current fleet of 44 aircraft.
PAL president Ramon Ang said the push into the Gulf states starting in October would serve the region’s large Filipino workforce, which includes many domestic helpers, construction workers and medics. “From UAE, for example, overseas Filipino workers can easily connect to other key cities or countries through PAL’s airline partners in the Gulf,” Ang said in a statement. PAL’s route expansion comes with the Philippine government expressing hope that its aviation safety regime will soon pass audits by regulators in the US and European Union.
The US blacklist prohibits Philippine carriers from adding additional flights in the US apart from their existing services. The EU bar prevents Filipino airlines from serving European routes at all.
The PAL group now serves 28 overseas destinations including four US cities: Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
China slams Manila bid to ‘legalise’ islands’ occupation
Reuters/Beijing
China accused the Philippines yesterday of trying to legalise its occupation of islands in the disputed South China Sea, repeating that Beijing would never agree to international arbitration.
Frustrated with the slow pace of regional diplomacy, the Philippines in January angered China by asking a UN tribunal to order a halt to Beijing’s activities that it said violated Philippine sovereignty over the islands, surrounded by potentially energy-rich waters.
Claims by an increasingly powerful China over most of the South China Sea have set it directly against US allies Vietnam and the Philippines. Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also claim parts of the waters and China has a separate dispute with Japan in the East China Sea.
Manila said on Thursday that a UN arbitration court had set up the tribunal which would hear Manila’s complaint, but China said this was an attempt to steal Chinese territory.
“The Philippine side is trying to use this to negate China’s territorial sovereignty and attach a veneer of ‘legality’ to its illegal occupation of Chinese islands and reefs,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn). The Philippines must immediately withdraw personnel and facilities from the islands, the ministry added, listing those which it said Manila was occupying.
Manila asked the tribunal of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to order a halt to China’s activities.
But the convention did not apply in this case as what the Philippines was actually asking for was a decision on sovereignty, the ministry said.
“China’s refusal to accept the Philippines’ request for arbitration has full grounding in international law,” it said.
China had always believed that the two countries should resolve their dispute through direct talks, the ministry added.
Southeast Asian nations stepped up efforts on Thursday to engage China in talks to resolve maritime tensions, agreeing to meet to try to reach common ground on disputed waters ahead of planned discussions in Beijing later this year.
Efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to craft a code of conduct to manage South China Sea tensions all but collapsed last year at a summit chaired by Cambodia, a close economic ally of China, when the group failed to issue a closing statement for the first time.
Chile seeks stronger ties
The Chilean government is seeking strong political, diplomatic, economic and cultural ties with the Philippines in light of the Southeast Asian country’s robust growth, Chilean Ambassador to Manila Roberto Mayorga said.
“Our president is very excited with the progress of the Philippines. The Philippines and Chile share a lot of history, culture and friendship,” Mayorga told editors of Manila Times during a roundtable interview.
Despite the connection, he lamented that the two countries share little history of trade and investments.
One of the areas of co-operation that can be improved on, he said, is in the field of agriculture.
“We can identify the place here that is close to Baguio (to grow grapes) for wine. In return, the Philippines can help Chile identify the location to grow bananas, mangoes and pineapples there,” the envoy said.
He also said that a delegation of Chilean experts in fruit exporting will arrive later this year to hold meetings, dialogues and discussions with Filipino businessmen.
This will help the Philippines export its products and fully open its market to investors.
He said Chile has over 40 years of experience in fruit exporting, and can help the Philippines boost its fruit export industry.
Unlike the Philippines, whose products can be sold internally, Chile depends highly on their export industry.
The envoy also welcomed a Philippine geothermal company—Energy Development Corp (EDC)—the “first and only” Philippine investor in Chile.
“The Philippines has over 40 years in experience in geothermal sector and that is what Chile needs,” the envoy said.
The ambassador said both countries have to work on expanding tourism between the Philippines and Chile.
He said it is hard to invite Chilean tourists to visit the Philippines and vice versa because only a 30-hour flight via only Australia is available.
But Fernanda Vila, the embassy’s deputy head of mission, said Chile is developing its “cruise tourism” wherein tourists will fly to Chile and then go in a cruise to see the icebergs near Antarctica.
The tourists would then take the cruise back to Buenos Aires or Brazil, but “the starting point is Chile.”