Maniolas

Just this week, the Star carried a news item about the Senate ratifying two treaties on aviation.  These of course ensure greater protection and fairer compensation to air passengers in case of accidents during flights.  These treaties refer to the 1999 Montreal Convention (MC99) and the Protocol Relating to an Amendment to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. A quick review of history pertaining to the protocols and conventions leading to MC99 is in order now that the Philippines has adopted this regime as basis for our own aviation protocol. To harmonize private international air laws, the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, otherwise known as the Warsaw Convention was signed in 1929 in Warsaw although, as agreed upon by the member states in attendance, this came in to force only in 1933. A total of 152 states concurred with all the provisions of the Warsaw Convention, a  significant number insofar as concurrence is concerned, which you will see as you read on. When World War II came to an end, the aviation industry saw more improvements with larger airplanes and much longer routes, more air passengers and increased freight, and the 1929 Warsaw Convention was becoming irrelevant to the times. In 1944, the Chicago Convention brought a measure of order and a smoother flow of air passengers, baggage and cargo, and this took effect in 1947, concurred in by 191 states against Warsaw’s 152. In 1955, the Hague Protocols took place to Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has deferred anew the bid submission deadline for the proposed P4-billion transportation hub in Taguig City by at least a month to give prequalified bidders more time. DOTC undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla issued General Bid Bulletin 15 – 2015 informing the prequalified bidders on the changes in the May 18 deadline for the Integrated Transport System (ITS) South Terminal project. “In view of the final clearances that will have to be secured for the project, and in order to give prospective bidders ample time to prepare their submissions, the deadline of submission and opening of bids shall be moved from May 18 to 30 calendar days from the confirmation of the final version of bidding documents,” he said. Lotilla pointed out that the final version of the bid documents approved by the agency’s Pre-Qualification Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) could be accessed by the bidders in the data room in the DOTC website. The DOTC has already prequalified Ayala Land Inc., Filinvest Land Inc. of taipan Andrew Gotianun, Datem Inc., and MWM Terminals led by Filipino-owned Megawide Construction Corp. for the PPP project last Dec. 10. Earlier, DOTC assistant secretary for legal affairs Jaime Fortunato Caringal issued General Bid Bulletin 12 – 2015 moving the submission date for bid proposals for the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project to May 18 instead of June 1. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The DOTC earlier deferred the submission of bids Read More …

“Confluence” is this year’s theme of the MSAP Media Congress. It stands for “convergence” and “influence.” MANILA, Philippines – In Nick Gabunada’s opening remarks in the biennial Confluence Media Congress 2015, he underscored the need to embrace the media revolution by creating significant shift to cater to consumers’ changing wants and needs for technology. The two-day event by the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines (MSAP), encourages practitioners to reimagine, rethink and reshape the future of media by understanding “confluence,” or by capturing the convergence and influence of media touch points. The Philippine media industry now advances through the use of data and technology. Unlike before, enticing the consumers is not as simple as posting ads on newspapers. One now has to consider embracing platforms across various digital devices. Here are some ideas the media revolution has taught us and ushered in, as mentioned by the speakers in the Confluence conference. Social media is key in tourism promotion. Every Filipino is familiar with the Philippine tourism campaign. “It’s more fun in the Philippines,” the brainchild of of Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. Jimenez said social media is key to the success of the campaign. “It’s more fun in the Philippines started with three versions only, but now it already has more than 178,000 versions, counting so far only those that we have seen,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Because finding a place to visit and booking hotel reservations are just a single click away, domestic travelers in Read More …

“The Philippines will hit, in 2015, a ‘demographic sweet spot’ that will approximately last for the next 35 years,” Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Antonio Morales said. Photo shows a street in the Philippine capital of Manila. TPSDave MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Antonio Morales recently presented facts about the Philippines and overview of the Philippine economy before 40 officials of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Singapore. In the April 8 meeting, Morales noted the rapid growth trajectory of the Philippine economy from 2010 until 2014. In his presentation, he emphasized that the country’s economy grew by 6.1 percent, making it the second fastest-growing economy in the region after China. He said various factors which contribute to the sharp growth include the country’s large but young population, the various anti-corruption measures that have been established by the current administration, as well as structural changes taking place in the economy caused by good economic fundamentals. “According to UN population projections, the Philippines will hit, in 2015, a ‘demographic sweet spot’ that will approximately last for the next 35 years. Countries in such conditions post an average yearly growth of 7.3 percent,” cited Morales. The ambassador said that the Philippines “can no longer be labeled the sick man of Asia due to the favorable economic conditions and is now savoring an unprecedented level of confidence from the international economy. “For the first time in the country’s history, the Philippines is ranked investment grade by the major credit rating outfits—Moody’s, Standard and Read More …