Iloilo now an international gateway to the world- Drilon

Iloilo now an international gateway to the world- Drilon

By Vicente W. Villavert, Friday 9th of November 2012

ILOILO CITY, November 9 (PIA 6) -- Senator Franklin Drilon urged Iloilo government officials to work together so that international flights to the province will be commercially viable.

“Iloilo is now an international gateway, providing connectivity from Western Visayas to the rest of the world through Hongkong and Singapore,” Drilon said during the inaugural launch of Cebu Pacific’s International flights in Iloilo last night.

Drilon said that he has several plans to make Iloilo attractive as a tourist destination and this will involve a lot of investments in public infrastructure projects.

“I will include in the 2013 budget the amount of P2.5 million for the Bureau of Immigration for the purchase of four passport scanners, and by January we should have it,” Drilon said as he noted the lack of the said facilities at the airport.

To put Iloilo as a destination for tourists and convention doors, Drilon said that “in the next two weeks we will be making public another legacy project which will make Iloilo the destination of conventions, but I will not reveal what it is yet.”

Cebu Pacific Vice-President for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog said that Cebu Pacific affirms its commitment to provide connectivity to Iloilo and Western Visayas, by basing an aircraft here, and making Iloilo one of the airline’s operational hubs.

“We believe that the international routes will open a lot of tourism and business opportunities to and from Iloilo and its surrounding areas, and we couldn’t be prouder of our contribution to this regional growth,” Iyog said in a press statement.

The Iloilo-Hong Kong service kicked off with the inaugural flight departing Iloilo at 11:10 p.m. on November 8. Iloilo welcomed its first international passengers from HongKong at 4:45 a.m. on November 9, 2012, including Consul General Noel Servigon from the Philippine embassy in Hong Kong, and key overseas Filipino group leaders in Hong Kong.

The maiden Iloilo-Singapore flight on the other hand, will kick-off November 9 at 10:40 p.m.

With the recent development, Senator Drilon noted that “today we can now truly call our Iloilo Airport as the Iloilo International Airport”.(JCM/VWV/PIA 6-Iloilo)

Cabatuan.com - Timeline 2012