CebPac to fly Clark-GenSan air route starting next month

Thetrade and tourism potentials of this city, the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines,” and neighboring areas in Soccsksargen will get a big boost with the revival of the air route with Clark in Pampanga, an official said.

vulnerable sectors.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said he remains hopeful about the country’s economy as inflation eased to 8.6 percent in February from 8.7 percent in January this year.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) attributed the easing inflation to the slowdown of transport-related prices including gasoline, diesel and motorcycles, among others to 9 percent from 11.1 percent in January 2023.

“Nananatili tayong puno ng pag-asa para sa ating ekonomiya lalo na’t bahagyang bumaba sa 8.6 percent ang ating inflation rate sa kabila ng inaasahang pagtaas nito sa mga susunod na buwan (We continue to be full of hope for our economy especially since our inflation rate dropped slightly to 8.6 percent despite the expected increase in the coming months),” Marcos said in his official Facebook page and Twitter account.

He assured that the government will continue to implement measures to temper the prices of basic goods and services.

Marcos said his administration will also continue to provide subsidies to Filipinos in the most

“Tuloy-tuloy lang ang ating mga hakbang para pababain pa ang presyo ng bilihin at alalayan ang mamamayang Pilipino (We continue to take steps to lower the prices of goods and provide support to the Filipino people),” he said.

Earlier in the day, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno announced that the government will soon release a PHP1,000 cash aid under the extended Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) program to help some 9.3 million households cope with high inflation.

The TCT program will grant cash transfers to the most affected households in the amount of PHP500 for two months.

Diokno said the PHP1,000 two-month cash aid will come from the PHP26.6 billion allocation for subsidies to vulnerable sectors.

Apart from the PHP1,000 two-month cash aid, he said the government will also provide subsidies under the Fertilizer Discount Voucher program, Fuel Discount for Farmers and Fisher-folk program and Fuel Subsidy to the Transport Sector Affected by the Rising Fuel Prices.

Leonard Flores, head of the City Economic Management and Cooperative Development Office, said that Cebu Pacific will service the Clark-GenSan-Clark route.

“[The opening of air] routes is a proven strategy to sustain trade, investment and tourism promotion interventions,” he said.

Based on Cebu Pacific’s website, the firm will start serving the direct Clark-GenSan-Clark link on April 26.

The new air route is expected to benefit not only the local economies of Clark and Gensan but also the wider regions of the two areas, Flores noted.

The two areas are significant hubs for trade, tourism and agriculture, and the new air link is likely to increase business opportunities and promote greater economic integration, he added.

In February 2020, a Fokker-50 aircraft operated by Leading Edge Air Services Corp. started serving the GenSan-Clark-GenSan route twice a week but the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the operator to stop the service.

Flores said that with Cebu Pacific serving the Clark-GenSan route, it will provide a more convenient way to travel between the two cities.

Without such a flight, travel between the two areas involved multiple transfers and lengthy travel times, making it an arduous and time-consuming trip. Travelers have to go through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila or the Mactan-Cebu airport in the Visayas.

With three flights per week available in April, travel time beFCEBPAC, P10