CLARK FREE PORT—Officials of the Clark International Airport Corp. (Ciac) said emergency preparedness at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (Dmia) will contribute to the growth and development of the airport here.

Victor Jose Luciano, Ciac president and chief executive officer, said the recently concluded four-day Second Ciac Emergency Full-scale Exercise is an integral part of the development of the DMIA which is being developed as the premier international gateway of the country.

“The Dmia will soon be a beehive of civil-aviation operations owing to the entry of air carriers, as well as locators that will set up a variety of airport-related businesses. Ciac and the people behind the Emergency Services Department [ESD] will play a crucial role in the safety of both aircraft and its passengers,” Luciano said.

“We are doing this to be to be on a par with our Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] neighbors in terms of emergency preparedness and passenger safety. A full-scale drill like this prepares our personnel better for the very exciting future that awaits us in the civil-aviation industry,” he said.

Luciano was impressed with the attendance of some 400 participants from all the fire departments, hospitals, rescue teams and other emergency organizations in Central Luzon and Metro Manila.

Ciac executive vice president Alexander Cauguiran stressed the need to prioritize safety at the Dmia as this will contribute to the growth and development of the airport that will spark economic and social development in the region.

“Let us bear in mind that the sacrifices and commitment we will all pour into these activities are important to achieving and ensuring safety at the Dmia that will, in turn, contribute to its growth and development,” Cauguiran, who keynoted the four-day, full-scale emergency exercise, said.

“Dmia’s success, on the other hand, will spark the economic and social development of our region to the ultimate benefit of our people in terms of jobs and investments,” he added.

Ciac-ESD manager Federico Primero Jr. said the exercise aims to improve the emergency capabilities of disaster-response teams of the Dmia, as well as the response teams in Central Luzon, and to promote the Dmia as a safety-capable facility.

The exercise consisted of three days of drill involving lectures and film-showing on Disaster Management in the Philippines and Air Traffic Operations, among others.

The exercise is a requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao). The last exercise was held at the DMIA in 2003.

The emergency services at the DMIA are Icao-compliant Category 9.

NFA men escort rice trucks to outlets

SPECULATIONS rose and grim images flashed, across Central Luzon, a major producer of the Philippine main staple, as government men escorted traders ferrying truckloads of National Food Authority (NFA) rice to their outlets. Rolling stores, described as a “quick response” solution to the rice shortage, were also readied.

THE Philippines’ approach to inflation “is quite impressive.” This accolade is from the World Bank (WB), which said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has done a good job at managing the economy, deftly avoiding cost-push inflation no matter an externally driven peso liquidity surge.

THE National Democratic Front (NDF) said on Tuesday that it is willing to resume the stalled peace talks with the government and is not backing off, as claimed by a spokesman for the administration.

HONG KONG (via PLDT)—The Philippine government will ask Hong Kong labor officials to consider the possible reversion of the minimum wage for Filipino domestic helpers there to prerecession levels, President Arroyo said on Tuesday.

NOT contented with his plan to file before the Vatican a formal complaint against Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan for conduct unbecoming, a legislator wants the bishop criminally prosecuted and asked the people he “demonized” to seek redress before the courts.

THE left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday accused Japan of bribing the government through the P7.8-billion supplemental loan to finance the completion of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) in exchange of the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa).

CLARK FREE PORT—Officials of the Clark International Airport Corp. (Ciac) said emergency preparedness at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (Dmia) will contribute to the growth and development of the airport here.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A bus driver thwarted a grenade attack on his bus on Monday, the local police reported.