JV Ejercito slams CAAP on failure to back up NAIA air traffic management system
January 05, 2023
Senator Joseph Victor ”JV” Ejercito on
Thursday said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) failed to
back up the air traffic management system (ATMS) of the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport (NAIA) despite being granted sufficient funding by
Congress.
The agency is now under fire after a glitch
with its ATMS on New Year’s Day downed more than 3,000 inbound and outbound
flights throughout the country and affected around 65,000 international and
domestic passengers.
“All of the things they have asked for –
government support, subsidy, airport upgrades, equipment, navigational tools
and everything, lalo na yung mga night flying capability of other airports – we
already gave them. That’s why a lot of airports were already upgraded,”
Ejercito said.
“Doon ako nalulungkot. Why, of all things that
they have requested, why the main air traffic management system, how come na
dito pa tayo pumalya?” he added.
Ejercito said back up systems could have
prevented the NAIA fiasco since the strategic importance of the country’s main
ATMC leaves “no room for error.”
“The air traffic management system is very
vital. It concerns the air traffic, of course, the surveillance. The whole
airspace of Philippine territory should be monitored. And first and foremost,
it concerns the safety of all the aircraft that is entering our airspace. So,
there is really no room for error for this,” he said.
“It has to be perfect, almost perfect. In
other countries, there are, sometimes, they have three layers. So, if the first
system fails, the back up fails, there’s a third one. That’s why there’s really
no compromise. We cannot compromise,” he added.
The lawmaker from San Juan expressed his
frustration at the slow pace of the country’s airport upgrading program, saying
that he and his colleagues worked to defend the budget of the CAAP, the
Department of Transportation (DOTr), and other concerned agencies in the past
two administrations.
In 2018, during Ejercito’s first term in the
Senate, efforts to improve the country’s ATMS, as well as its communication,
navigation, and surveillance management system received P122 million in
funding.
This is on top of aP10-billion grant received
from overseas development assistance at the time.
“Almost all the CAAP and DOTr requested for
the budget, I remember defending it and fighting for it. Because that is really
necessary. Of course, it will improve our economy,” he said.
Previously, Ejercito called the incident a
“national embarrassment” and a “threat” to the country’s territorial integrity
and the safety of thousands of passengers.
Three days after the incident, Ejericto filed
Senate Resolution No. 400, directing the Senate Committee on Public Services to
conduct an investigation on the said fiasco and produce recommendations to
strengthen the country’s aviation industry.
The said panel will be holding its first hearing on
the incident on January 12.
