BALANGA City – The Bataan bishop on Friday announced that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines voiced strong opposition to the inclusion of the terminal fee to the airline ticket, asking President Aquino to exercise his power of veto.
Bishop Ruperto Santos of the Diocese of Balanga said the CBCP made the official statement through the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People that he chairs.
The prelate said his commission strongly expressed opposition to the recently issued memorandum circular of the Manila International Airport Authority notifying all travel and airline establishments about the implementation of the International Passenger Service Charge (IPSC) or terminal fee integration effective February 1, 2015.
“It condemns MIAA’s utter disregard for the still pending court and congressional and senate hearings seeking to clarify the issue,” Santos said.
He said that MIAA and the Department of Transportationand Communications should not implement the IPSC while there are still unresolved issues before RTC Branch 109 in Pasay City and congressional inquiry is yet to take place on February 9.
“Their desire to eliminate a single queue at our international airports directly tramples and betrays the interest of our country’s unsung heroes. They will be disadvantaged and burdened by this insensitive move,” the prelate said. Santos considered the move as “heartless, disgraceful, and a gesture of blatant disrespect to the rights of OFWs.”
“On behalf of the overseas Filipino workers and their families, we humbly plead and appeal to President Aquino to exercise his power of veto so that the implementation of the memorandum be reconsidered until all the gaps and loopholes are ironed-out and the interest of all those who will be affected are fostered and honored,” the bishop said.
Santos said the order is a deliberate and conscious act to violate the grant of exemption to OFWs from paying airport terminal fees as enshrined in the Migrant Workers’ Act of 1995 and Republic Act No. 10022. The memo states that air tickets bought locally, abroad and online, will include the terminal fee by February 1, 2015.
“But MIAA itself admits that OFWs who will buy their ticketsonline or overseas will not be able to claim exemptions since airline companies and travel agencies with offices outside the Philippines do not recognize and cannot be compelled to recognize the exemptions granted by our laws,” the Bataan bishop said.
He said that during the visit of Pope Francis, among the many vulnerable sectors in our society, the OFWs and their families were given special preference, honoring them for their great contribution to the country and the world.
“They are considered as living heroes. Should we burden them with self-serving and insensitive memos? Huwag na nating dagdagan pa ang kanilang paghihirap,” Santos said.
