PAL to sell to San Miguel
MANILA, 24 February 2012: Philippine Airlines said Friday it was in talks to sell a stake in the loss-making flag carrier to local beer conglomerate San Miguel.
“Talks are definitely ongoing,” airline spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna told AFP when asked to confirm media reports that negotiations were under way.
“As to the acquisition of shares and details of the negotiations, we are bound by non-disclosure until (the) fine print of the deal is reached.” Read more
PAL sale plan pleases Manila
MANILA, 24 January 2012: Manila has welcomed plans by tycoon Lucio Tan to sell loss-making flag carrier Philippine Airlines, with a presidential spokesman saying on Monday it will improve its image.
The comments come after Tan was reported by ABS-CBN news.com at the weekend as saying he wanted to offload PAL, Asia’s oldest airline, “at the right price”.
It said he was in talks with San Miguel Corp. chief Ramon Ang and Manuel Pangilinan of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co about a possible buyout, although it added that he had not decided how much he wanted. Read more
US apologies over sex slur
MANILA, 10 October 2011 – The US ambassador to the Philippines has apologised for his controversial remark that 40% of male tourists visit the country for sex, the foreign department said Saturday.
Harry Thomas sent the apology through a cell phone text message to Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on Friday, a spokesman said.
In a statement, the US embassy confirmed that Thomas had expressed “deep regret” for his remark.
Last month, Thomas sparked a furore when he said: “Forty percent of foreign men who come to the Philippines, including from the US, come for sex tourism.” Read more
Philippine tourism peaks
January 28, 2011 by AFP
Filed under News, Southeast Asia
MANILA, 28 January 2011 – Tourist arrivals in the Philippines reached an all-time high of 3.52 million last year as increasingly affluent South Koreans and Chinese flocked to its tropical attractions, the government said Friday.
Visitor numbers in 2010 beat the previous record despite a bus hijacking that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead in August and a series of travel alerts by Western nations in November warning of an imminent terror attack.
Philippine arrivals improve 20%
January 10, 2011 by AFP
Filed under News, Southeast Asia
MANILA, 10 January 10, 2011 – The number of foreigners visiting the Philippines rose nearly 20% last year despite a deadly tourist bus hijack and foreign warnings of terror attacks, the government said Monday.
A total of 3.45 million foreigners went through the country’s main ports of entry in 2010, up from 2.89 million in 2009, Bureau of Immigration interim chief Ronaldo Ledesma said in a statement.
“These numbers send a very clear message that the confidence of the international community in the Philippines and the government of President Aquino is very strong,” Ledesma said.
Air travel in the Philippines on the rise
January 7, 2011 by AFP
Filed under Aviation, News, Southeast Asia
MANILA, 7 January 2011 – Millions more people in the Philippines are taking to the air, helped by dirt-cheap plane fares, aviation authorities said Thursday.
Carriers flew 22.82 million people to and from Philippine airports in the first nine months of last year, up 12.75% from a year earlier, Civil Aeronautics Board data show.
Cheap and infamously unsafe ferries have long been the main form of long-distance travel for people in the impoverished Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 7,100 islands.
Sex on the beach upsets Boracay mayor
MANILA, 6 January 2011 – Philippine authorities may ban sex on the world-famous beaches of Boracay island after a television crew filmed two naked couples making out in public on New Year’s Day, the local mayor said Thursday.
The clip showed one pair apparently having sex on the beach and the other locked in a passionate kiss in the water, with the woman’s bare breasts clearly shown above the waterline.
The ABS-CBN television network said it filmed the apparently Western couples at 0200 on New Year’s Day following a large beachside party on Boracay to usher in 2011.
Manila treated to an image makeover
January 5, 2011 by AFP
Filed under Aviation, News, Southeast Asia
MANILA, 5 January 2011 – Philippine authorities have launched a fresh campaign to lure tourists to Manila after a deadly hostage fiasco and terror attack warnings further tarnished the national capital’s already shady image.
Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said the many festivals in Manila and its suburbs would be promoted as tourist attractions in 2011, in a bid to emulate the way similar celebrations in regional areas already attract tourists.
“Soon, both foreigners and locals will know the metropolis beyond being the premier gateway and capital city of the Philippines. There are special events in Metro Manila worth witnessing,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
AirAsia explains Philippines partnership
December 23, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
BANGKOK, 23 December 2010 – AirAsia, through its fully owned subsidiary AA International Ltd has confirmed earlier this week its partnership with a Philippines local businessmen to establish a low cost airline.
The joint venture is expected to commence operations by the third quarter of 2011 subject to obtaining the relevant approvals.
The company will incorporated as AirAsia Inc with AirAsia holding 40% equity through AirAsia International Limited, while the remaining 60% will be held in equal partnership involving three local businessmen; Antonio O. Cojuangco, Michael Romero and Marianne Hontiveros.
Philippines aviation chief quits
MANILA, 23 December 2010 – The Philippines’ chief aviation regulator has abruptly quit, the government said Tuesday, after he blamed President Benigno Aquino for keeping the country on an international flight safety blacklist.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director-general Alfonso Cusi tendered his resignation effective 31 December.