PAL to allocate more flights from CDO to Manila, Clark airports

By LITO RULONA
Correspondent .

Management of Philippine Airlines on Wednesday made an assurance to the farmers and traders to allocate more flights from Cagayan de Oro to Manila and Clark International Airport in the next few weeks .

The assurance was an offshoot from an “interlude” of transportation of farm goods inside Laguindingan Airport in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.

The assurance was made by Philippine Airlines (PAL) airport operation manager Mark Francis Baliuag on Wednesday during the meeting of the City Council’s Committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry chaired by City Councilor George Goking.

To solve the problem, Baliuag said 15 to 20 tons of vegetable and food products for four flights daily.

“Additional tons on Wednesday and Friday because we had five flights to Metro Manila. Okey na sab sila didto sa Clark,” he said.

Only the management of Cebu Pacific failed to attend the meeting despite notices issued by the committee. Goking said he would arranged another meeting with the management of Cebu Pacific.

Despite of the assurance issued by the PAL management, the regional office of the Department of Agriculture – 10 (DA-10) would still bring the issue to DA Secretary Manny Piñol to include other farmer’s area of concern and the vegetable business traders.

DA-10 assistant regional director Roxana H. Rojas said that they will cater all concerns and issues raise by the farmers and traders as region 10 was identified as food basket.

“The problem of food distribution is not only during calamities but the whole year round. We are currently placing a road map to include other areas in Mindanao for food suppliers to be distributed not only in Metro Manila but to other provinces,” she said.

She said the DA-10 has also arranged freezer vans to transport leafy vegetables through vessels that regularly in route towards Metro Manila and other provinces nearby.

DA-10 is now under arrangement to other suppliers of vegetable products as Northern Mindanao identified as vegetable champion in Mindanao and Visayas, second to Benguet provinces in the entire country.

“Dili lamang vegetable products but ang Cagayan de Oro is also a good supplier for meat and chicken and livestock products,” she added.

Currently, DA-10 also mapping out the ‘Imtasula ‘(Imbatog, Talakag, Sumilao,   Vegetable Complex roadmap which is also near to Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental vegetable suppliers.

Earlier, no less than Cagayan de Oro Farmer’s Market and Terminal president Peter Sumabong raised before the Goking’s committee regarding their concern of the reported P4 million worth of vegetable goods that were lost after they suffered an “interlude” of transportation.

Sumabong said they had been suffering a big loss due to the “off-load” they had been experiencing for the past weeks at Laguindingan Airport that airline companies only allocated and allow few kilos of perishable goods specially vegetables in going to Metro Manila.

Goking said invitation to Secretary Piñol was already sent, for him to discuss the problem that was raised by the local vegetable traders and farmers based in East-Westbound Terminals and Public Market (EWTPM) in barangay Bulua.