CONGRESS needs to update the law creating the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to carry out long-term solutions that would address deficiencies in the country’s aviation problems, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said yesterday.
Angara noted that Republic Act 9497, or the law that created the CAAP, was enacted back in 2008 and as such, already needs to an upgrade to make it more responsive to current aviation woes and deal with insufficiencies in the supervision and management of the industry.
Angara has refiled a proposed measure during the present 19th Congress advocating for safety standards in transportation and travel upon the recommendation of the Safe Travel Alliance and “in recognition of the need to strengthen the CAAP as part of the efforts to ensure the safety, reliability and efficiency of air transport in our country.”
Senate Bill No. 1003, which was filed on August last year, will be among the measures that will be taken up in the scheduled inquiry of the Senate public services committee into the technical glitch that paralyzed operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on January 1.
Under SB 1003, the secretaries of the Department of Tourism and the Department of National Defense and two representatives from the private sector, who will be appointed by the President, will be added to the CAAP board.
The proposed measure also recommends the enhancement of CAAP’s fiscal autonomy with the grant of an exemption from the coverage of Republic Act 7656 or the Dividend Law, so that it could maximize the use of its revenues.
The bill also calls for the exemption of CAAP from the coverage of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) Law and the Salary Standardization Law in consideration of the highly technical nature of the functions of the agency.
“The technical glitch that took place last January 1 was a wake-up call for all of us about the need to address the gaps in our air transport systems and the CAAP is front and center in all of this, which is why we have to institute the necessary reforms to provide the agency the tools necessary to effectively fulfill its mandate,” Angara said.
He said the Senate probe should focus on two fronts — pinpoint those accountable for the technical glitch and ensure that relevant systems and institutions are capacitated and empowered to prepare and respond to similar occurrences no matter how rare they take place.
‘100% RESPONSIBLE’
Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate public services committee, said that CAAP is “almost 100 percent responsible” for the New Year’s Day mess at the NAIA that affected more than 65,000 passengers and more than 300 flights.
“I think CAAP is almost 100 percent responsible for this because when it comes to the operations of commercial air traffic and giving permits, it’s CAAP and CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board) … But CAB deals more with the economic aspect and CAAP is the operations,” Poe said in an interview with ANC’s Headstart.
“Definitely, they’re responsible because those are their people that they assigned there to the air traffic control towers,” she added.
Poe said it is time for the government to tap the private sector to modernize the operations and maintenance of NAIA, which she has been pushing since 2018 to address the efficiency and safety needs of the increasing number of passengers each year.
Poe recalled that talks started in 2017 on NAIA’s modernization project, including upgrading airport facilities and expanding the terminals, to be handled by a mega consortium involving reputable companies.
“Can you imagine if we awarded it to them in 2018 or 2019? During the pandemic, it would have been a downturn for them, but they could have rehabilitated the airport easily because there wasn’t so much activity during that time,” she said.
Poe said the passenger terminal at Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which was completed in 2018, is a classic example of how privatization works.
“We’ve seen this example in Cebu and I think that GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation has done a fairly good job in designing the airport and running its operation,” she said.
“I believe it’s time for this (privatization). We still need the Bulacan airport because no matter what improvements you do with the terminals in NAIA or the Manila International Airport, you will never have more than two runways at this point, but you can always improve efficiency,” she added.
Poe said officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), including former DOTr Secretay Arthur Tugade, Manila International Airport Authority and other concerned executives have been invited to the Thursday hearing to shed light on the NAIA incident.
“This did not happen overnight. Obviously, it stems from many years of transactions and maintenance upgrades. In fact, it’s not just singling out secretary Tugade, it’s also a chance for him also to be able to correct the impression that it was during his time that all these things may have been neglected,” Poe said.
Poe said the inquiry will focus on how to avert a similar incident that could compromise the safety of passengers.
“We want to know what the agencies plan to do so that this does not happen again. We should find out who are responsible. If there’s somebody whom we can call out, who may have been negligent, of course they have to be reprimanded if not fired,” she said.
