ILOILO CITY: Everything is set for the maiden direct international flights to Hongkong and Singapore respectively on November 8 and 9, 2012 after a businessman, member of the Iloilo
City Local Economic Development Foundation (ILEDF), answered the call for donation of four more computers to make the Iloilo airport at par with international standards.
ILEDF is chaired by former Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary Nar-zalina Lim and Rex Drilon as president of the foundation with Ilonggo businessmen and entrepreneurs, mostly based in Metro Manila, as members.
Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog announced that Federico “Pique” Lopez, chairman of First Gen. Corp., answered the call for donation under an effective public private partnership to buy four more units of manually operated passport verifier scanners.
Smart Communications is also donating two more units to the DOT to complete the needed six units at the airport.
DOT Reg. Dir. Helen Catalbas said that a memorandum of agreement (MOA) will be forged between DOT and the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) showing the loan agreement of the six computer units to BID until such time the BID under the Department of Justice includes in the 2013-budget the airport digital verifiers.
Catalbas said that each digital verifier will cost some P4.5 to P5 million each unit.
Mabilog reiterated that the city government is willing to provide the passport verifier but the bidding process will take sometime and may not be on time by November 8. He said that the donated computer units will be in place by November 5 at the Iloilo airport.
Catalbas said that everything is set at the airport, especially personnel assigned by the Bureau of Customs, Immigration and Quarantine to service passengers of direct international flights to Hongkong and Singapore.
Cebu Pacific Air is fielding new airbus planes to Hongkong and Singapore and back to Iloilo City.
On the other hand, Catalbas said that the Philippine Airlines is also eyeing direct international flights from Iloilo to Incheon, South Korea starting early next year.
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