TACLOBAN CITY – Eastern Visayas is bound to lose 1,183 daily tourists or 106,470 from September to December due to limited air travel operation at the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport.  With this situation, the regional office of the Department of Tourism admitted that they could not possibly reach their target of tourist arrivals at more than 769,000 for this year.  “The DZR Airport serves as the gateway. With the limited operations of the airport, we are also faced with limited air seats for incoming and outgoing passengers,” said DOT Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes.  “Limited flights and schedules also make travel to the region inconvenient to both visitors and the travelling public,” she added. Before the runway problem, Tiopes recalled that the Tacloban airport had nine flights per day with an average airline seats per plane of about 70. “That means we lost 79% of our airline seat capacity,” she said. Based on their tourist target for this year, 2,109 tourists are to arrive a day in the region using the DZR Airport. Assuming that 80% or 1,687 visitors arrival via Tacloban Airport, the region will have a significant gap between visitor air seat demand and supply, Tiopes said.

 “Presuming that of the 630 passengers from nine flights per day, 80% or 504 of them are visitors, then we are losing about 1,183 tourists per day,” she observed. For 60-room Hotel Alejandro, the situation since early September has been unusual. “Our occupancy rate since September 4 was just 70% to 80%. Prior to airport problem, we have been fully booked. We lost walk-in clients due to flight cancellations,” said Nellie Abiertas, front desk officer of Hotel Alejandro.  The airport was shutdown on September 3 for emergency patching of large pothole, as recommended by airline companies. After 24 hours, the runway has reopened, but only for propeller driven aircraft to give way to long term repair.

The situation prompted airline companies to cancel flights to DZR Airport. Only the Manila-bound Philippine Airlines turboprop planes and Cebu-bound Cebu Pacific’s small aircraft use the airport. The DZR Airport has 2,100-meter runway. Unlike Airbuses, smaller aircrafts can only use half of the runway, paving the way for the massive rehabilitation of runway’s asphalt overlay. Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Tacloban area manager Efren Nagrama said that massive runway rehabilitation works may end early December. The DZR Airport is one of the country’s busiest airports in the country, catering 611,397 inbound and outbound travellers from January to July 2014. The CAAP office has no available comparable 2013 data since all records were swept away by big waves. Tiopes, on the other hand, said that the limited operation will contribute to sustainable tourism growth in the future as it will ensure “long term safety.” “If we were to weigh the effect of having an airport with limited operations versus ensuring the safety of passengers and the integrity of the aircraft, latter takes precedence. We just have to bear the short term inconvenience,” she added. Eastern Visayas is targeting an 8.5% growth this year from the 709,498 arrival in 2013. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)

MANILA- Ambassador Philip Goldberg of the United States to the country believes that the assistance that his country donated intended for victims of Supertyphoon Yolanda were all accounted for. Goldberg, in a press conference held at the US Embassy on Sept.15, made this statement after he was asked if his government would still continue to provide assistance amid claims that there were donations that remain unspent ten months after Yolanda hit central Visayas, particularly Eastern Visayas.

“The fact is that we believe (that) every dollar is accounted for and we’re satisfied with the process from our point of view. And so, we do not believe that our assistance has been an issue,” Goldberg said.
The US is one of the biggest donors to the country for assistance and rehabilitation of areas hit by Yolanda at more than $87 million. Gloria Steele, Philippine mission director of the USAID (United Agency for International Development), in the same press conference, said that the US uses its own tracking and auditing system on how their assistance went.

She also said that the US has committed to provide $142.5 million to the country, which included both for emergency and recovery assistance. The People Surge, a group of Yolanda survivors, asked for Soliman to step down due to her alleged inefficiency. Earlier, the Commission on Audit reported that there were food packs intended for Yolanda victims worth P2.7 million were wasted and P5 billion was not liquidated in conditional cash transfer fund by PhilPost, among others. Soliman, however, ignored the call saying she will not step down insisting that she is doing her work and that all the financial received by her office were all accounted. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY- Samar Vice Governor Stephen James Tan expressed his confidence that this year’s budget of the province will be approved without much hitches. Tan, who acts as the presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, said the proposed P1.18 billion budget for 2015 will be deliberated by them during their regular session next month. The proposed P1, 185,396,978 budget for the province for next year is relatively higher compare to the current budget of P1.042 billion. It was learned that under the 2015 budget, bigger allocations were given in the sectors of agriculture, infrastructures and health, underlying the thrust of Governor Sharee Ann Tan to improve Samar’s economic standing.

Basic social services were also given a priority under the IRA (internal revenue allotment)-driven proposed 2015 provincial budget. “So far, I don’t see any problems that will deter the approval of our proposed budget for 2015.All the contents of the proposed budget are presented to the members of the board for them to see and scrutinize,” Vice Gov. Tan said.

In several instances, the passage of provincial budget of Samar has become a contentious issue among provincial board members which resulted for the reenactment of budget to the detriment of the people. Meantime, Vice Gov. Tan said that they will also make sure that the rehabilitation of the province, especially those areas that suffered the brunt of supertyphoon Yolanda, will be faster. According to him, rehabilitation work will immediately commence once the funds are downloaded by the national government. The towns of Basey and Marabut are considered to be the hardest-hit areas in the province due to the onslaught of Yolanda. (JOEY A. GABIETA)