Clark balloon fest sabotages airport

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    ANGELES CITY – The holding of the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark, scheduled from February 12 to 15, is part of the efforts  to sabotage the full development of the Clark International Airport (CIA) and should immediately be   stopped.

    The Pinoy Gumising Punto! Central Luzon: February 6, 2015  Ka Movement (PGKM) also said proper  accounting  of the government funds spent for hot  air balloon festivals in Clark should be made public. “So what  international airport in the world can  you find hosting hot air balloon festivals?

    Balloons are a risk to aviation,    especially to passenger airlines,” PGKM Chair Ruperto Cruz said.  “With Clark identified as hot air balloon festival site, it loses its premium  as commercial aviation hub.” 

    “This is yet another sabotage of the Clark airport, to abort its development into an international gateway of the  country,” Cruz added. At the same time, Cruz questioned the  “propriety” of the subsidy being extended by  the Clark Development Corp. to the sponsor of  the Clark hot air  balloon festival. 

    In years past, the CDC is reported to have extended from P2 million  to P3.5 million annually to the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta Foundation, Inc. (PIHABFFI), through its  president Capt. Jose Mari  “Joi” Roa. 

    This, on top of the parking fees, gate receipts, stall rentals, commercial  sponsorships which reportedly  “all accrue to the PIHABFFI.  The CDC subsidies and earnings from the balloon festival have not  been subjected to  any  government auditing processes.

    No accounting

    “Where did the money go? It seems that only Roa rakes in profit,” noted Cruz. Entitled: “A Weekend  of Everything    That Flies,” the PIHABFFI organizes the staging of the Clark hot air balloon fiesta in a memorandum of agreement  (MOA) with the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) for  this year.

    “If the  government spends funds for a project, there should be proper accounting,”  said Cruz. “For so many years now there is no accounting,” he added. Cruz said the Commission on Audit (COA) should start looking into the books of  he PIHABFFI.  

    First festival

    It was the Department of Tourism led by then Secretary Mina Gabor and Regional Director  Ronnie Tioutuico along  with Korean businessman and hot-air balloon pilot Sung Kee Paik, British Airways GM John Emery, and German  ax Motschmann that started the Clark hot air balloon  festival in 1994.

    This with the express objective of priming Clark  as engine of economic development in the immediate post-Pinatubo times and develop hot air ballooning as an  viation sport in the country. A total of 13 balloons participated in the first festival, even giving free  rides to the public. 

    In 1996 the event was turned over to Roa “pursuant to privatization,” with the provision that government  ould cease funding the event.  But the CDC has provided subsidy that, from 2009, amounted to P3.5 million. 

    CIAC pull-out

    In 2011, the CIAC pulled out its support “in money and in kind” to the hot air balloon festival. Then CIAC President- CEO Victor Jose  Luciano categorically stated to media: “This year, 2011, the CIAC has not joined the Hot Air    Balloon (Festival).

    We believe that the project is not in focus with the priorities of CIAC which  are to accelerate the     development of the airport and woo more airlines to  fly to Clark.” The PGKM found vindication of its position that the  hot air balloon festival was detrimental to the development of  the Clark airport.

    Luciano added: “For 2010, when  IAC became  a partner in the project, through my own efforts, singlehandedly I raised P5.5 million from  sponsors  which very well covered the P3.5 million  payment to Joy Roa.” In 2013, Luciano however sang a different  tune after he signed  a MOA with Roa for that year’s hot air balloon fiesta. 

    Said Luciano: “Yes we will endorse that (hot air balloon fiesta) subject to the approval of CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) on  safety issues and for   as long as the events will not interfere with flight  operations of our nine airlines in Clark.”

    The PGKM lambasted Luciano for this “change of heart” even as it called him “”co-conspirator in the conspiracy to sabotage the development of the Clark airport.” 

    Cancellation

    Last year, the hot air balloon festival in Clark was cancelled “because of lack of preparations.” The CDC said     [Organizer Capt. Joy Roa] has set a standard and  he wants to surpass the success of the 2013 hot air balloon  festival” even as it announced  “the event will resume in 2015 with more well-prepared activities.” 

    Lubao edition

    The absence of Roa and Clark cancellation of the event however did not prevent the regional office of the  Department of Tourism from spearheading a hot air balloon festival in cooperation with a team of local and foreign  enthusiasts of the sport and the provincial government of Pampanga.

    Dubbed Philippine International Balloon Festival, the event was held on April 10-13, 2014 in Barangay Prado Siongco Lubao town with 35 balloons – more than in any of the Clark event had – from 10 countries.

    The Lubao festival organizers noted that  hot air balloon events should be staged beyond the 25-kilometer no-fly zone around the Clark airport. Their site  is 33 kilometers away from the Clark civil aviation area It was observed too that flying hot-air balloons at an altitude of 4,000 feet may inconvenience airlines especially if launched during peak hours. 

    Perfect site

    Veteran balloon pilots soon learned that Barangay Prado Siongco, Lubao has more favorable wind conditions  for    flying hot air balloons than Clark. Steven Kim from South Korea said that  unlike in Clark where the wind is  uni-directional or moving in only  one direction, the Lubao site has “winds in wide circles.”

    The favorable wind  condition virtually makes balloons float in the air and come back to their take off points.  Kim also noted that Lubao ranks among the  few sites in the world where the wind conditions are favorable to hot air balloon flying like in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the USA where hundreds of balloonists participate yearly. 

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