Philippine Airlines after 13 years Fly back to Saudi Arabia; all seats are fully booked

Ambassador Tago (center) lead the ribbon cutting ceremony along with Otham Al Zamil, director for operations and fire service, and Ali Al Rashid, airport manager for terminal operations. (Philippine Embassy photo)

Return of Philippine Airlines flights to KSA get positive response

The resumption of the Philippine Airlines' Manila-Riyadh and Manila-Dammam flights has received positive response, with most flights in December 2013 already fully booked, the Philippine Embassy said in a press statement.

"We are very happy to welcome the Philippine Airlines back to Saudi Arabia, with today's flights to and from Riyadh and on 3 December to and from Dhahran," the statement quoted Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago as saying on Sunday during the ceremonial ribbon cutting of the Philippine carrier's return.

Tago, together with PAL and Saudi immigration officials, was at Terminal 1 of the King Khalid International Airport on Sunday to welcome the passengers and the crew onboard the first PAL flight non-stop Manila-Riyadh-Manila on Sunday.

He led the ribbon cutting ceremony along with Otham Al Zamil, director for operations and fire service, and Ali Al Rashid, airport manager for terminal operations.

The twin-engine Airbus 330-300 with flight number PR 564 was operated by Captain Jose Reginald David, assisted by Captain Ruel V. Isaac and Second Officer Erik Lee Isaac landed at KKIA at 2:01PM carrying 376 passengers from Manila.

The return flight of PR 655 was fully booked with 391 passengers and departed at 3 p.m. Sunday.

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On Tuesday, PAL will make its inaugural flight at the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Eastern Province.

PAL first started flying to and from Saudi Arabia on July 3, 1982, landing in Dhahran International Airport and eventually had flights to and from Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah until 2001 when the airlines was hit by a crippling pilots' and ground crew strike.

Filipinos in the western side of the Kingdom, meanwhile, are asking why PAL has not restored its Manila-Jeddah-Manila flight.

PAL has yet to issue a statement on the matter, but industry sources say the airline did not get sufficient booking for the year, unlike in Riyadh and Dammam.

Ambassador Tago said he was hoping that the return of the Philippine Airlines to the Kingdom "will restore further interest in the Philippines among Saudi tourists and provide a more familiar travel option to our kababayans (nationals) in Saudi Arabia."

Tourism to the Philippines from Saudi Arabia has increased steadily over the past three years, with the Philippines increasing its tourism promotion activities in the Gulf region and specially Saudi Arabia.

Flights from Riyadh will leave every Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 1:30 p.m. The flights from Dammam will leave every Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.

PAL's general services agent in Riyadh is Al-Tayyar Travel, while it is Kanoo Travel in Dammam.

Founded in 1941, PAL is Asia's oldest commercial airline and it was one of Asia's biggest until the 1997 Asian financial crisis forced it to drastically slash its international operations, reducing its fleet and laying off thousands of employees.

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In 1998, it had to be placed under receivership, which it eventually exited in 2007 after its financial stability was ensured.

With the takeover of PAL by San Miguel Corporation, one of the Philippines' biggest companies, industry watchers are predicting an eventual return of the flag carrier to its old glory. – The Arab News

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Ira Panganiban’s ‘Dear Kim Henares’ open letter for Pacquiao goes viral ( Pacquiao of ₱2.2 billion vs Lucio Tan of ₱5-billion' no garnishment)

Open Letter of former ABS-CBN correspondent Ira V. Panganiban to BIR commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares regarding the "lien" and garnishment order to the bank assets and bank accounts of Manny Pacqiuao 

An open letter addressed to Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares by journalist Ira Panganiban goes viral on Facebook after it criticized the latter's cherry-picking on who to prosecute.

In his letter, Panganiban defended the boxing champ Manny Pacquiao whose banks accounts were frozen following a ₱2.2 billion tax case after his failure to report the millions of dollars in taxes he paid in the US.

His open letter was first shared in his Facebook account garnering more than 5.9k shares and more than 4.5k likes. On Twitter, the letter was tweeted repeatedly especially among local celebs.

Panganiban, who was a former ABS-CBN correspondent and now a newscaster for Inquirer Radio, also questioned why BIR is not keen on looking at Lucio Tan "who owes the country more than ₱5-billion pesos in tax."

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Here's the full letter:

Dear Kim Henares,

I do not doubt your sincerity to collect taxes from every Filipino, living or dead.

I do not even doubt your integrity in making sure that you are able to collect the proper taxes from everyone.

I am however questioning your motives and arbitrary choice in the personalities you choose to prosecute.

I am going to cite one particular person who has been on the BIR's radar as a perennial tax evader for the last 20-years with cases going in and out of court.

His name is Lucio Tan and he owes the country more than ₱5-billion pesos in tax liabilities decided on numerous times by the Supreme Court as executory and final and yet no garnishment order was ever made until his petition reaches the SC, who would then reverse their decisions time and again.

Lucio Tan was never known for his philanthropy or good business practices. He authored the contractualization of PAL and Asia Brewery employees which was not only detrimental to Filipino Labor but also to taxes that could be collected from these workers had they been regular employees.

Lucio Tan is also accused of ill-gotten wealth from his Marcos days, and yet he continues to enjoy his money.

Congressman Manny Pacquiao's case is not even at the High Court and his earnings have already been garnished.

You have been given certified true copies of Pacman's tax payments in the US and yet you refuse to recognize this and insist on originals which I believe, but I may be mistaken, even US citizens have no access to.

And to think that Pacquiao earned his money through honest, literally blood, sweat and tears. And he is one of about ten persons who insist in keeping his money in the Philippines because he is a patriot.

He could have stashed it somewhere you cannot reach if he had things to hide, but he kept it here, so our economy can make use of it.

You cannot even freeze the money of politicians involved in the PDAF scam but you can do this to an ordinary man who managed to rise above all of you through hard work, guts, integrity and the work of his own hands.

And that is why your integrity is rapidly being eroded, because you don't seem to think anymore. You just grab the first victim that cannot fight you.

Because even if Pacquiao is a Congressman, he is not connected to the old boys club and so does not have the clout of the Tan's, Sy's, Dy's and others.

Oh, and Lucio Tan did give over 100 million to Noynoy's election kitty while Pacquiao was with the opposition.

I guess we know now the motivations don't we?

Yours disgustedly,

Your Boss's Boss

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Court of Appeals freezes bank accounts of small Pork Barrel fishes; big fish bank accounts “Empty”

Court of Appeals freezes bank accounts of four ex-solons over pork scam

Pork scam suspects continue to feel the wheels of justice. The Court of Appeals has issued a freeze order covering the bank accounts of four former congressmen and six staff members of three senators who are implicated in the ₱10-billion pork barrel fund scam.

In a 43-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Manuel Barrios, the CA Former Second Division said covered by the freeze order were the bank accounts of the following:

• former APEC party-list Rep. Edgar Valdez;
• former Agusan Del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza;
• former Benguet Rep. Samuel Dangwa
• former Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula

Also covered were bank accounts of:

• Atty. Jessica Lucila "Gigi" Reyes, former chief of staff of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile;
• Richard Cambe, chief of staff of Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr;
• Ruby Tuason, a representative of Enrile and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada;
• Pauline Labayen, staff of Estrada;
• Jose Sumalpong, chief of staff of former Masbate Rep. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete; and
• Erwin Dangwa, chief of staff Dangwa.

These individuals are among the 38 individuals earlier slapped with criminal complaints at the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the supposed misuse of ₱10 billion of Priority Development Assistance Fund (Pork Barrel).

De Lima knew about it 'weeks ago'

For her part, De Lima admitted she knew about the OSG requesting the CA to issue the freeze order "a few weeks ago." She, however, kept mum about it in the media.

"I was advised not to be announcing it kasi alam niyo na, kapag ina-announce ang pag-freeze ng mga assets, bank accounts ay baka unahan tayo nung mga iyan, nung mga may hawak ng accounts na iyan. So it's not safe at all to be disclosing those things," De Lima told reporters in Manila.

She said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was "closely coordinating" with the Anti-Money Laundering Council in relation to moves by the government to have assets of people involved in the fund mess frozen

Plaza, who according to the NBI had amassed P42.1 million from the scam, left the country on September 11.

Tuason left on August 26, while the Bureau of Immigration has also confirmed that Reyes left the country August 31.

The CA said the freeze order, served to the banks on Wednesday, would be in effect for three months.

The CA ordered the banks covered by the order to submit within 24 hours a return of the freeze order, to show that they have complied.

The freeze order stemmed from an earlier request to the CA made by the AMLC through the Office of the Solicitor General.

Concurring in the resolution were Associate Justices Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Normandie Pizarro.

Janet Lim-Napoles herself, the supposed mastermind of the fund scam, could not touch her bank accounts after the CA in August issued a similar freeze order against her bank and investment assets, and those of her family, employees, and supposed non-government organizations. —KG/HS, GMA News

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