Airlines, cargo firms welcome pullout of FedEx from Subic Freeport

Local airlines and cargo companies welcomed the pullout of Federal Express (FedEx) from the Subic Freeport in 2008, saying the American cargo carrier's operations in the country were in violation of the Constitution.

Robert Lim Joseph, president of Save Our Skies (SOS), said local airlines and freight forwarding companies were not surprised when FedEx announced that it was closing its Asian hub in Subic and moving to Guangzhou, China in 2008.

"This only shows that foreign companies would go where the market is. China is a big market for the United States. The company sees more traffic between US and China and other Asian destinations," Joseph said.

He said the company would only use the Philippines as transit point to other destinations in Southeast Asia when it transfers its operations to China. Joseph said the pullout of FedEx would have no negative economic impact on the Philippines.

He said the investment of FedEx in the Philippines is insignificant and that it pays only a small amount of taxes as the bulk of its taxes is still paid in the US. "Their operation here did not even result in lower cargo rates," Joseph said. On the contrary, he said, the American company's pullout would return to local and foreign carriers and local freight forwarding companies the business it had taken from them.

"The cargo that is destined from the US to the Philippines and vice versa will still be there even without FedEx," he added.