Dinagyang lauded in PHL tourism promotion in US

The Department of Tourism (DOT) cited Iloilo City's premier cultural event, the Dinagyang Festival, for promoting “It’s More Fun in Philippines” in the United States of America recently.

Mayor Jed Patrick E. Mabilog stressed that Dinagyang’s US trip strongly promoted the city and the country to the rest of the world and enticed prospective investors during the series of performances.

DOT lauded the city government “for the invaluable contribution in the overseas promotion of Philippine Cultural Tourism through the stunning performance of Iloilo Dinagyang Festival Tribe Panayanon.”

The certificate of appreciation was given by DOT Undersecretary Ma. Theresa L. Martinez to city contingent in New York June 4 following its performance during the Independence Day Parade in Madison Avenue, Manhattan.

The Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles praised Tribu Panayanon “in recognition for sharing the time and talent in the maiden performance at the Los Angeles Historic Filipino Town during the Kalayaan 2013 celebration parade.”

The citation was given by Consul General Ma. Hellen Barber dela Vega in Los Angeles June 8.

The certificates were presented to Mabilog and Iloilo City National High School principal Blesilda Floro by City Tourism Officer Ben Jimena at Plaza Libertad following City Hall’s Monday flag-raising ceremony.

CAAP-Iloilo plans multi-million expansion of airport terminal building

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP-Iloilo) is proposing for a multi-million terminal building expansion to decongest the volume of passengers at the Iloilo Airport in Sta. Barbara-Cabatuan, Iloilo.

The proposal is also in view of Iloilo to possibly host several events for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)Summit in 2015.

Airport manager Efren Nagrama said the proposed extension is to accommodate separately the domestic passengers from growing number of international passengers. He added they are now on the planning stage and many things are being considered before the construction starts this year.

Nagrama confirmed that the building to be expanded will also be the present terminal building.

The main passenger terminal of the airport has a 13,700-square-meter (147,000 sq ft). It was designed to accommodate around 1.2 million passengers annually after it started its operation on June 14, 2007.

Once finished, Nagrama said they could add some additional baggage conveyors and aerobridge for the passengers’ convenience to augment the present baggage claim area located at the ground floor of the terminal building which is accessible from the second floor. It has two 51-meter conveyors.

“This is in preparation for the upcoming APEC Summit so that we could accommodate volume of international passengers from other countries”, he said.

The Iloilo Airport has been opened to direct international flights to Singapore and Hong Kong early since November last year and there were already 136 flight arrivals from these two countries.

Singapore had a total of 80 flights with 9,191 total passengers on board and Hong Kong with 56 flights and 6,350 passengers.

Nagrama said he is also expecting volume of passengers both international and domestic once Iloilo City hosts the summit apart from the number of passengers for the two direct international flights.

Iloilo airport on its 6th year anniversary

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) here will be marking the sixth year anniversary of the Iloilo Airport with a relaunch of its slogan "Love to serve You" which promotes the Ilonggo people's culture of serving from the heart.

CAAP Area Manager Efren Nagrama said that they will be celebrating the anniversary of the airport, located in Sta. Barbara-Cabatuan towns in Iloilo Province with a motorcade from the Iloilo capitol passing through the University of the Philippines in the Visayas in Molo, Iloilo City and then proceeding to the airport (Friday June 14, 2013).

He said that as part of the celebration they will be relaunching the slogan “Love to serve You." There will also be a recognition of the CAAP employees and airport concessionaires who showed honesty and goodness to the airport passengers.

“There were some taxi drivers who returned laptop and cellphone units left behind by their passengers,” Nagrama said.

Invited for the mass and program were Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor, Sr. and Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog and the mayors of Sta. Barbara, Cabatuan, and Pavia, which is the gateway to the airport.

Meanwhile, Nagrama said that with the airport inaugurated last June 13, 2007 and then opened to commercial operation the following day it is now sustaining its flights, even direct international flights to Singapore and to Hong Kong.

The Iloilo Airport has been opened to direct international flights to Singapore and Hong Kong early of November 2012. Since then until last May 14, there were already 136 flight arrivals from these two countries.

Singapore had a total of 80 flights with 9,191 total passengers on board and Hong Kong with 56 flights and 6,350 passengers.

Nagrama said that with the number of passengers for the two direct international flights increasing, Air Asia which has merged with Zest Air, is reportedly considering starting the Iloilo to Japan flight. The CAAP manager said the proposal was still unconfirmed and the airline officials have yet to confer with them.

He said that if ever this will pushed through, the Iloilo airport finds it very feasible.

Department of Tourism (DOT) Regional Director Helen Catalbas during a press conference pushed for the opening of a direct Iloilo-Japan flight considering that the Japanese are a potential market for Western Visayas.

Iloilo-Guimaras Ferry Terminal construction to start soon

After a long delay, the construction of the P260-million proposed Iloilo-Guimaras Ferry Terminal on the 1.2-hectare property in Parola, City Proper will soon to start as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) building is about to be finished by next month.

It was City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog who ordered last year to set aside the project after it faced several delays due to legal matters.

Mabilog, however, said the construction of the project which is through Public Private Partnership (PPP) venture between the Iloilo City Government, DoubleDragon Properties Inc. and Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will push through as soon as the PCG-Iloilo District building is already finished and their private partner -DoubleDragon Properties Inc. could already submit their master plan and financial analysis.

Mabilog said the property, where the Rotary Park once stood, is now owned by the government after President Benigno Simeon Aquino III issued a presidential proclamation for such.

He said the land is now shared by the city government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and PCG.

City Administrator Norlito Bautista said the PPP project was already reviewed by the technical experts from Manila-based Public Private Partnership Center of the Philippines (PPPCP) that arrived in the city late last year.

During the visit, Bautista said the team had a consultative meeting with DoubleDragon Properties Inc., DOTC and Iloilo City Government to re-assess their PPP venture and work out a reduction in the project’s cost.

Bautista added there were some changes in their Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).

Part of the MOA, the DOTC will allot P125 million for the construction of the slope protection embankment and other site developments while a private company will provide P135 million for the construction of the terminal building.

Iloilo City top BPO hub in Philippines

Iloilo City ranked as the best business-friendly among BPO (business process outsourcing) havens in the country.

This was the assessment of government and industry leaders highlighted in the Top 10 Next Wave Cities (NWC) for 2012 report released Monday May 20.

Mayor Jed Patrick E. Mabilog said the recognition is another clear manifestation of the city’s growing reputation as ideal investment destination and BPO hub.

He added the citation will attract prospective BPO locators to settle in the metropolis.

Iloilo City was named the top location for business environment and risk management (BERM) with rating of 96 percent because of its low vulnerability to natural disturbances and business friendliness.

A perfect score for BERM means that a location has at least four approved sites by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), is not covered by a travel advisory, has an ICT Council, has very low vulnerability to natural disturbances, and a crime rate of less than two percent.

The NWCs were judged the best existing or potential information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) hosts based on talent, infrastructure, cost, and business environment and risk management, said Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario Montejo.

Other key factors of NWCs are the big pool of talent availability and professionalized workforce, IT education, quality of roads, availability of hotels, presence of international and domestic airports, frequency of domestic and international flights, and availability of office space in PEZA-certified buildings.

With the IT-BPM industry’s significant contribution to the country’s economy, the government is keen on supporting the expansion of voice and non-voice services to locations with the potential to support and sustain their growth.

The BPO cities are assessed by DOST-Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) and Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).

DOST-ICTO and IBPAP hope to help both local and international investors make location decisions by assessing these cities.

“We view this as an essential contribution to making national economic growth and job generation inclusive by spreading it from established to emerging IT-BPM hubs,” said IBPAP president and CEO Jomari Mercado.

“All these locations only show that the Philippines have proven its capability to attract and host major IT-BPM clients. If their local ICT councils and the local government units continue to work together, we are confident that the industry’s next wave of growth will happen in these cities,” he added.

“We are seeing renewed interest by IT-BPM companies in locations outside Metro Manila. Through the NWC program, we are able to highlight more location options,” said David Leechiu, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) international director and country manager for JLL Philippines, a financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate services.

The other top 10 NWCs are Baguio, Davao, Dumaguete, Lipa, Metro Bulacan (Baliuag, Calumpit, Malolos City, Marilao, and Meycauayan City), Metro Cavite (cities of Bacoor, Dasmariñas, and Imus), Metro Laguna (cities of Calamba, Los Baños, and Sta. Rosa), Metro Naga (Naga City and Pili), and Metro Rizal (Antipolo City, Cainta, and Taytay).

Source: PNA

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Parola ferry terminal project on the go

The much-delayed Parola ferry terminal project at the Parola area in this city will soon be a reality after all hitches and legal impediments were straightened out between the city government and private partner Double Dragon Properties Inc. under a public private partnership (PPP) scheme.

City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said the P135-million project, aimed to service the needs of sea commuters between Guimaras and the city, was delayed for almost a year while waiting for the completion of a new building of the Philippine Coast Guard beside the ferry terminal site.

The project will be constructed by Double Dragon Properties Corp. as a private partner at no cost to the city government and will have a modern terminal building, shopping complex and a park.

On the other hand, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will complete the P260-million total project cost with a P125 million counterpart to build a modern wharf, slope protection embankment and other site developments for vessels plying the Iloilo-Guimaras strait.

Mabilog said the contract between the city and Double Dragon is based on legality provided in the internal rules and regulations (IRR) of Article 66 of the local government code that allows joint ventures with the private sector.

The City Council enacted last year Ordinance 2011-213 to support the project based on Section 35 of the same government code by adopting the provision using joint venture agreement with the private sector.

The project also passed the strict assessment and validation of the Manila-based Public Private Partnership Center of the Philippines (PPPCP) formerly known as the Board of Investments.

Article 66 or the provision on joint venture and cooperative program and undertaking of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Local Government Code states that "the local government unit (LGU) may enter into joint venture and such other other cooperative arrangements with people's organizations, non-government organizations or the private sector to engage in the delivery of certain basic services, capability building and livelihood projects, develop local enterprises designed to improve productivity and income, diversify agriculture, spur rural industrialization, promote ecological balance and enhance the economic and social well-being of the people."

Source: PNA

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