Palace open to probe on airport terminal fee integration

Malacañang is open to the plan of the Senate to investigate the scheduled integration of terminal fee with airplane tickets, which some lawmakers earlier described as disadvantageous to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

During a press briefing on Tuesday, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the Senate probe will provide a venue for the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and airport officials to explain the terminal fee integration plan.

“Kung mayroong mga katanungan, agam-agam o alinlangan ang ibang sektor, mayroon ding pagkakataon na isagawa ang paglilinaw sa isang maayos na paraan,” Coloma told reporters.

“Isa riyan ‘yung pagkakaroon ng pagdinig sa ating Kongreso at ito ay magsisilbing pagkakataon para bigyan ng liwanag kung bakit nagsasagawa ng mga bagong patakaran,” he added.

Coloma maintained that the proposal took into account the concerns of OFWs, who under the law are exempted from paying terminal fees.

Last year, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) issued Memorandum Circular No. 08, which seeks to integrate terminal fees amounting to P550 per passenger in all plane tickets.

Pro-overseas Filipino worker groups had assailed the integration, saying it would violate Republic Act 10022, the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, which exempts migrant workers from paying terminal fees

Last October, a Pasay City court issued a temporary restraining order halting for 20 days the plan to integrate the terminal fee into the prices of plane tickets.

Malacañang said over the weekend that the integration of the terminal fee in plane tickets will already be implemented starting next month.

A few months ago, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, an administration ally, called for a legislative probe on the integrated terminal fee proposal. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more

In Cairo, senior Hamas officials discuss hostage deal with Egyptian intelligence chief ---By TOI STAFF, AGENCIES and LAZAR BERMAN

Delegation said led by terror group’s Qatar-based political leader Ismail Haniyeh; Wall Street Journal reports Hamas demanding 150 security prisoners for each female soldier A delegation of senior Hamas officials arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible deal that would see the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza. The delegation was led by Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, and included senior members Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil al-Hayya, the Qatar-based Al-Araby news outlet reported, citing an unnamed Egyptian source. The Hamas officials met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, to discuss the details of a hostage deal proposal that was presented to the Gaza terror group earlier this week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. The outline of the deal was drawn up during a meeting in Paris last week in the presence of Israeli and US officials, as well as Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, a
Read more