Palace to Gemma on air row: Shut up

Latest Palace advice to Cabinet officials: Speak with one voice or learn to shut up.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora directed a friendly reminder yesterday to Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz-Araneta, who has lately been criticized for her divisive stance in the raging dispute over the cancellation of direct air links between Manila and Taipei.

The embattled tourism chief, in a telephone interview, said the Palace advice was uncalled for.

"He (Zamora) probably got the report from people who do not understand what is really happening. My position has always been to support President Estrada's progressive liberalization and civil aviation policies," she said.

Zamora told reporters yesterday that the President has ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Civil Aviation Board (CAB) to assist the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in resolving the stalled air service agreement in favor of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL).

The move is viewed as a subtle presidential rebuke against Araneta, who has been accused by PAL officials of sowing discord in the local aviation industry with her public pronouncements.

Zamora said the President issued the directive after Transportation and Communications Secretary Vicente Rivera Jr. reported the "undiplomatic" manner by which the Taiwanese side had responded to the CAB invitation to resume talks on the air agreement.

"President Estrada essentially told the DFA and the CAB that we have to protect our flag carrier. We should get everybody together, and Secretary Araneta should not in any way contradict the official line," Zamora said.

Rivera said he attended a recent meeting with the President and other officials, and that they all agreed that the government must speak with one voice in the air agreement issue.

"We love Gemma, but she should understand that we have a responsibility as Filipinos. We are much aggrieved in this dispute," Rivera said in the weekly presidential radio-TV program "Jeep ni Erap" yesterday.

Officials of the national carrier have been criticizing Araneta for her proposal to transfer the CAB from the DOTC to the Department of Tourism (DOT).

PAL president Avelino Zapanta said yesterday the national carrier will support the move to oust the tourism secretary "for a very shameful and dishonorable decision that harmed the national interest."

"We will not object in case President Estrada removes her (from her) position for not doing her job," Zapanta said. "The desire to reclaim the CAB chair is causing the DOT to neglect its mandate of developing the country's tourism potential. What happened to the tourism master plan?"

He said the move weakens the Philippine government's position in the dispute over a bilateral air service arrangement which could be exploited by foreign carriers.

The PAL executive also lashed out at Araneta for issuing a warning that Manila stands to lose some 200,000 Taiwanese visitors yearly if the air feud with Taipei is not settled immediately.

Taiwanese officials ordered Eva Airways and China Airlines (CAL) last Wednesday to stop direct flights to Manila. The move came after Manila aviation authorities disallowed two Taiwanese carriers from landing in Manila.

The CAB justified the move by saying it was only in retaliation to Taiwan's violation of the agreement by exceeding their passenger limit.

Last month, Taipei reduced PAL's access to Taiwan to four flights a week, equivalent to 1,200 seats, from seven flights, in violation of an interim bilateral accord which allows a maximum of 4,800 seats weekly.

Araneta said yesterday that her only concern was to boost the Philippine tourism industry, which would be affected if the country's ties with Taiwan continue to sour.

"I have factual basis to support this. In fact, Taiwan is our third biggest source of visitors," she pointed out. "He (Zapanta) is entitled to his opinion, but it is not fair for anyone to say that I allowed myself to be used by anybody."

The tourism chief said there was nothing drastic about the proposal to transfer the chairmanship of CAB since the board had been originally under the DOT before it was given to the DOTC under the Aquino administration.

During the "Jeep ni Erap" program, Rivera said the decision to disallow Taiwanese carriers from landing in Manila was a reaction to Taiwan's apparent bullying ways.

"It is a question of principles. We have already given Taiwan what they wanted. But what do they do? Instead of sitting down with us, they cut PAL flights to just four. This is the height of humiliation. So we have to suspend flights," he said.

Rivera likewise disputed charges by Taiwan that the Philippine government was being "overly protective" of PAL.

"I don't think so. Every government is duty-bound to protect its own carrier in some way," he said.

He said, however, that the Philippine government is still willing to sit down and finally resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, a member of the country's negotiating panel in the RP-Taiwan interim aviation talks said yesterday that several lawmakers were lobbying on behalf of the Taiwanese and undermining the Philippine position in the dispute.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Franklin Ebdalin said a number of congressmen, whose identities he refused to reveal, have been tapped "by a highly-funded competitor out to buy support of government officials and legislators."

"The air agreement dispute appears to be a widely-scaled problem," Ebdalin said.

He pointed out that Taiwanese groups should not be underestimated since they have the funds needed to conduct media briefings in five-star hotels and influence members of Congress to rally support.

"It is very lamentable that instead of protecting the country's interest, some politicians and legislators would rather engage in big-budget lobby campaigns to pressure the government to cave in to their demands," Ebdalin said.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan will not have to foot the bill for higher air fares following the cancellation of direct air links between Manila and Taipei, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the estimated 113,900 workers would not have to pay extra for flights from Taipei to Manila going via Hong Kong.

"I have talked to PAL. They gave a commitment that it would accommodate OFWs at no extra cost in their trip to Taiwan via Hong Kong," he said in a radio interview.

Laguesma's comments came after the Philippines and Taiwan severed air links for the second time in six months on Wednesday, with each side accusing the other of unfair competition practices.

In October last year the Philippines terminated a 1996 air pact with Taiwan, saying its provisions were being abused by Eva Airways and China Airlines in poaching passengers away from flag carrier PAL.

Direct flights resumed last month after both sides signed an interim air accord, but Manila earlier this week barred Taiwanese carriers after Taipei refused to increase PAL's four weekly flights, a figure way below the Taiwanese carriers' 17 weekly flights.

Officials have warned cancellation of air links would impact heavily on the economy and affect the Filipinos in Taiwan who are estimated to make up 40 percent of the island's foreign labor force. --