The Duterte administration delivers, seems to be a forgotten
message to its citizenry being drowned by the 24/7 negative thrashing of opposition groups
regarding his presidency.
This one Big Good News that was not really highlighted in
the airwaves, and its too good to past specially now that media is flooded with
all the negativity they can throw against the sitting government occupying
Malacañan palace.
The Department of Transportation( DOTr) has accepted the
Philippine Airlines’ offer to pay “in full” its unpaid obligations to the
government amounting to P6 billion to finally settle its long standing debt.
This after President Rodrigo Duterte in one of his speeches threatened legal
action against the company. *
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| It took a Duterte to be president for them to pay the government - “One of the overriding reasons why PAL agreed to settle is to manifest its trust and confidence in President Duterte's administration,”(photo credit to Manila Bullletin news) |
The President recently threatened to shut down Terminal 2 of
the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA 2), which the country’s flag
carrier has been exclusively using since 1999, if the airline’s owner, business
tycoon Lucio Tan, fails to settle his company’s arrears.
PAL’s unpaid navigational fees and other liabilities to the
government have so far reached P7.3 billion as of Sept. 26, 2017, payable to
the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines ( CAAP )and the Manila International
Airport Authority ( MIAA), according to the DOTr.
In a joint statement issued last Friday, PAL and the DOTr said: “The DOTr has
accepted the offer of PAL to pay in full the P6 billion claims of the
CAAP/MIAA, and PAL commits to keep all transactions updated and current with the
CAAP/MIAA.”
“One of the overriding reasons why PAL agreed
to settle is to manifest its trust and confidence in President Duterte's
administration,” they also said.
“PAL assured the government and the traveling
public that it will continuously provide its vital airline operations in the
service of the Filipino people.”
According to DOTr, letters were sent to the Lucio
Tan-led airline company upon the instructions of Transportation Secretary
Arthur Tugade as early as August 2016 "demanding full payment of all
unpaid charges." *
Malacañan in its statement
regarding PAL’s payment "will go a long way to help build much needed
infrastructure to support our economic capabilities."
"It is
a clear reminder that when government prioritizes national interest citizens
will cooperate," Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a
statement.
The DOTr
earlier denied PAL's request to pay over ₱6 billion in arrears in seven years.
"Thus,
final demand for full payment of all unpaid charges has been sent to PAL,
preparatory to the filing of appropriate legal action in order to protect the
interest of government," the DOTr said in its Facebook post on September
27.
PAL also
initially offered the government ₱4 billion, saying only less than half or ₱3.6
billion of the ₱6.91 billion being demanded by DOTr is backed by invoices.
Report from
Philstar and CNNPhilippines
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