A never-ending loop

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

Our government leaders really can’t seem to get their act together. Instead, what we are presenting to international observers is that our Executive and Legislative branches of government cannot agree to work together for the common good of the entire country.

All this impeachment talk simply scares investors away, not knowing if policies will change again and who will fall — the President or the Vice President — and who are the hidden players maneuvering behind the scenes.

Corruption? What corruption? It’s yesterday’s news. The fashion influencer is back in the limelight, none the worse for missing a season when indignation about corruption was all the rage and suspicion fell on her partner.

Thankfully, the Philippines’ story is hackneyed, and the global turmoil is so much more interesting nowadays that we ourselves find diversion in watching how our Big Brother seems to be following our lead.

Legislators conducting their various hearings are still playing to the audience, well-coifed and fashionably dressed, and all insisting on their budgets for their districts, making the impeachment volleyball the current game to watch.

Guards are coming down, and no less than Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr. has admitted that the Philippines is once again skating on thin ice with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and may find the country back on the gray list if we don’t take care. In fact, his warning extends for several years, perhaps beyond Remolona’s term,  as he warns that short-term fixes may not keep us out of the dreaded gray list.

There is more bickering about individual budgets than ensuring that all projects are aligned and being implemented. There is also blame-shifting being done from one government agency to another.

Take the distracting investigation of the Department of Tourism’s campaign to attract more foreign visitors to the country, with the Tourism Secretary accused of engaging in self-promotion in advertising campaigns instead of focusing on  the attractions of the country.

Perhaps, taking a page from the playbook of other similarly beleaguered foreign political personalities, the DOT Secretary has latched on to another  distracting, but ill-advised criticism of local carriers regarding the high cost of domestic fares.

The DOT, in a press release  called for a review of airline regulations to help lower domestic airfares and encourage more Filipinos to visit local tourist destinations.

During a public Senate hearing of the Committee on Tourism just this Tuesday (Feb. 3), Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco demanded greater transparency from airline companies, particularly in the setting and publication of ticket prices.

According to the DOT, there should be “clear and transparent publication of the just and reasonable rates as required by law, and that the same be under close scrutiny and regulation by the Civil Aeronautics Board.”

The DOT release further stated that the Secretary is asking that “as holders of public franchises, our airlines in the Philippines carry not only the responsibility to have commercial gains but also public interest obligations. And these are specified in the franchise that were granted, specifically in Section 3 of RA 11682 granting franchises to local airline carriers.”

To further address airfare-related concerns, the DOT release stated that it  continues to work closely with the CAB, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine Competition Commission to align regulatory oversight, infrastructure development and consumer protection.

The DOT had earlier requested the CAB to present a monthly airline ticket pricing index to improve transparency, prevent market shocks, and implement suggested price ceilings of flight tickets.

Apparently, the DOT staff has not done their homework and were not enlightened by a recent  tory written on Aug. 25, 2025 by Dexter Barro II of Manila Bulletin titled “Siargao Airfare: Why this flight costs more than a trip to Tokyo,” that clearly explains the high cost of operating flights to island destinations such as Siargao. I suggest they read that and enlighten the Secretary.

And just this week, no less than the Air Carriers Association of the Philippines or ACAP cited some of the costs that push up domestic airfares. These include various airport fees and their inability to use bigger more efficient airplanes for island destinations that do not have long runways.

In the just concluded Singapore Airshow, where Cebu Pacific CEO Michael Szucs participated in the CEO Summit, he pointed out that longer runways, more slots and more capacity would enable airlines to operate larger, more efficient aircraft that would help lower the costs and keep air fares low.

The short runway problem has been there for so long, initially impeding travel to Cebu and Boracay, and was eventually remedied by the extension of their runways.

Unfortunately, as has been the case for years, lack of foresight is always a problem. Our successive governments always like to address problems on an ad hoc basis — only when necessary and as needed — with no multi-year plan because as I pointed out, with each new government — out with the old, in with the new, and repeat — a tireless loop.

So you see, the DOT is kicking the can down the road to the next agency, which is the DOTr, which of course will cite its own problems with right of way, as well as funding support.

Funding support, of course, will lead back to budget allocations, which of course need congressional support.

We’ve quickly gone through January, the Chinese New Year is upon us. Will the Chinese come to visit with the e-visas in place? Will investors show interest in us? Your guess is as good as mine. Let’s see what happens next.