The incident that shut off Philippine skies on New Year’s Day has brought to fore the need to create the Philippine Transportation Safety Board (PTSB).
In a statement, the seven members of the Joint Foreign Chambers and other stakeholders, the Safe Travel Alliance and the International Air Transport Association called on the House and Senate to reconsider the bill creating the PTSB and approve the same in the 19th Congress.
“The recent incident involving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the alleged faulty air traffic management system has brought air transportation safety — and transportation safety, in general — in the spotlight. It was a strong reminder of the need to pass legislation creating the PTSB,” the groups said.
The JFC aired this sentiment in a letter to the Senate Public Services and House Transportation Committees, amid ongoing congressional hearings on the NAIA incident.
Currently, all investigations on transportation accidents are undertaken by the government agencies that have regulatory powers over the respective sector of the transportation industry. Because most of these agencies are also tasked to regulate and/or operate the sector, there is an inherent conflict of interest in the performance of their duties as an investigating bodies.
The bills seek to create the PTSB, an independent and impartial transport safety body patterned after best practices in other countries that will address regulatory gaps in the transport safety bureaucracy, facilitate the enhancement of transportation safety measures and standards, and coordinate all the actions of relevant public and private entities toward the common goal of ensuring transport safety.
The legislation was approved in both Houses in the previous Congress but was vetoed during the early days of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s presidency.
The stakeholders expressed optimism the current Congress can refine the bill so that the reasons cited for the veto can be addressed.
Once enacted, the new PTSB can commence its programs to prevent major transportation accidents which compromise the lives of the travelling public.
