Cebu Pacific eyes record 24M passengers in 2023

by Elijah FElicE RosalEs Philstar.com

SINGAPORE – Budget carrier

Cebu Pacific hopes to fly a record 24 million passengers this year, expressing confidence the resurgence in travel appetite would enable it to breach its alltime high.

In an interview with The STAR, Cebu Pacific CEO Mike Szucs said the airline expects to match, if not exceed, its previous high of 22.47 million passengers carried in 2019.

For 2023, Szucs said Cebu

Pacific targets to serve as many as 24 million guests, capitalizing on the sustained rise in passenger bookings, as travelers complete trips that they had to postpone due to the pandemic.

“Ballpark figure, total passengers this year (would range) maybe around 23 million to 24 million. I think it would be 75 percent for domestic, 25 percent for international,” Szucs said. Cebu Air Inc., operator of Cebu Pacific, has yet to release its operating statistics for 2022. Based on records from the Civil Aeronautics Board, however, Cebu Pacific and its regional unit Cebgo Inc. flew a total of 13.19 million passengers last year, of which 12.75 million are domestic guests and 435,841 are international travelers.

Prior to the pandemic, Cebu

Pacific carried an all-time high 22.47 million passengers and posted a capacity of 26.01 million seats, for a load factor of 86.4 percent in 2019.

By the close of 2023, Cebu Pacific aims to rebalance passenger bookings to a 70:30 mix between domestic and international flights, especially as the low-cost carrier would bring in 15 additional aircraft to service both local and foreign routes.

“They (international routes) are reopening, but they are not just there yet. They are progressively reopening. By the end of the year, we would be close to the 70:30 mix in terms of seat capacity that we had pre-pandemic,” Szucs said. n

by Gabriel Pabico lalu Inquirer.net

MANILA — Former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) chairperson Efraim Genuino has been found guilty of graft by the Sandiganbayan, for unlawfully releasing P37.06 million worth of Pagcor funds to an association training Filipino swimmers.

In the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division’s decision dated March 3, Genuino along with ex-Pagcor president Rafael Francisco and former Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chair William Ramirez were found to have violated Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for allowing the directly release of funds to the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (Pasa) in 2019. Pasa was training athletes who were slated to compete in the 2012 London Olympics. However, Sandiganbayan said that state prosecutors were able to prove that Genuino and the other convicted respondents acted in manifest partiality in providing Pasa with the funds — as it should have been coursed through the PSC.

According to the anti-graft court, Ramirez wrote a letter to Genuino authorizing Pagcor to deduct from the PSC’s legal monthly income share the amounts due to Pasa — which goes against Section 26 of R.A. No. 6847 which established PSC.

“Plainly, the direct release of a portion of the PSC’s share from PAGCOR to PASA was illegal as it directly contravened the abovequoted provision of the law,” the decision, penned by Third Division chair and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang.

Sandiganbayan also noted that defense witness Julia Llanto admitted that there was no PSC Board Resolution that authorized Pagcor to directly release the funds to PSC.

“Llanto likewise confirmed that there was no PSC Board Resolution authorizing Pagcor to directly release a portion of the PSC’s income share from Pagcor to PASA,” it added. The cases against Genuino was filed by the Office of Ombudsman in 2016, while the former Pagcor chief was arraigned in 2017.

As to the charge against Genuino for allegedly using the Pagcor funds to facilitate the training of the swimmers in a facility owned by his family, Sandiganbayan dismissed the case after the prosecution failed to prove Genuino’s links to TRACE Aquatic Center.

Former Pagcor senior vice president Edward King, former executive vice president Rene Figueroa, and former assistant vice president Valente Custodio were cleared from the charges involving this case. As for Genuino, Francisco, and Ramirez, a penalty of imprisonment from six years and one day to a maximum of 10 years was handed down. All three are also disqualified from public office. Cases against ex-Pagcor vice president Ester Hernandez and Pasa president Mark Joseph were ordered archived as both remain at-large. n

THE 71st Miss Universe R’Bonney Gabriel will have a special homecoming celebration in her hometown of Houston, Texas on Saturday, March 18.

Fans and supporters will have the chance to meet and celebrate with the beauty queen at the Hilton Houston Post Oak at 7 p.m. CST (local time).

The Miss Texas USA organizers made the official announcement on social media late last week. Tickets for the upcoming homecoming event went on sale on Monday, February 27 at Miss

Texas USA’s official website.

R’Bonney was born in Houston to a Filipino father and an American mother. She grew up in Missouri City and later in Friendswood, with her three older brothers.

Last Jan.14, she became the ninth Miss USA to win Miss Universe. She was crowned at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her success also made history as she became the first ever Filipino American to win Miss Texas USA, Miss USA, and Miss Universe. (Inquirer.net)

Atty. Gurfinkel answers immigration questions from Kapamilya in Las Vegas in part 2 of Citizen Pinoy’s ‘Your Tanong, My Sagot’

Michael J. Gurfinkel continues to answer immigration questions from Pinoys who made the trek to Radiant Beauty Skincare Med Spa in Las Vegas. It can be said that the place where one goes to get clearer skin also became the venue to get clearer answers to their immigration concerns for that