Limit CAAP to regulation, says solon

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MANILA, Philippines — After its Air Traffic Management Center failed on New Year’s Day, a lawmaker urged the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to become a regulatory organization and transfer its commercial duties.

In a statement on Wednesday, Northern Samar 1st District Rep. Paul Daza said the incident last Sunday, where over 300 flights were either canceled, delayed, or diverted because of the glitch, should signal changes for the agency.

“The recent fiasco at the Naia clearly signals the need to separate the regulatory and commercial functions of the CAAP […] We are assured that an investigation is already being done. However, that is also problematic because it’s the same agency investigating its own,” he said.

“The CAAP must be enhanced to focus on being a regulatory body, while two other operational and independent investigative agencies must be created to perform the mentioned functions,” he explained.

CAAP, said Daza, is an agency with commercial and regulatory functions. The agency was created by Republic Act No. 9497 or An Act Creating the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

The Deputy Minority Leader pointed out that Section 21 of R.A. No 9497 gives CAAP the mandate of “development and utilization of the air potential of the Philippines” and “regulation of air transportation,” all while enjoying fiscal autonomy and exemption from “taxes, customs, and tariff duties in the importation of equipment, [machinery,] and other materials.”

All these roles might impede CAAP from conducting an impartial investigation, Daza claimed.

“Many have already spoken and, most likely, everyone is right. There seems to be negligence, but the more critical question is, how can we ensure objectivity in the investigation if CAAP is the one investigating itself?” Daza asked.

“We could no longer afford another similar incident; thousands of lives had been put at risk and will be put at risk if this should ever happen again,” he added.

There have been calls from members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives for an investigation of the incident.  Earlier, the Office of San Jose del Monte Rep. Rida Robes said the lawmaker would be filing a resolution to probe the air traffic management mess.

Robes, chair of the House Committee on good government and public accountability, was one of the passengers affected by the issue.

Daza suggested that an impartial body should conduct a thorough investigation of the incident for this case.

“The government needs to create an impartial body that will conduct an investigation on what really happened—this body should not be within CAAP,” he said.

“This is a wake-up call. In an archipelagic country where air- and sea-based travel is critical to growth, we can’t be this complacent and worse, be left behind,” he added.

Flight operations were disrupted before 10:00 a.m. of Sunday, January 1, after power supply problems affected the  Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Systems (CNS/ATM) of the CAAP’s  Air Traffic Management Center.

The CNS/ATM allows air traffic controllers in the Manila flight information region (FIR) to communicate with commercial aircraft and direct air traffic.

However, in a late-night briefing on Sunday, both Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and CAAP Director General Capt. Manuel Tamayo clarified that a commercial power supply was available, and it was the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) of both the primary power source and the backup source that malfunctioned.

Without the CNS/ATM, the CAAP had to rely on radar to resume air traffic control operations on a limited basis by 4:00 p.m.

Tamayo said they tried to override the power supply by installing an automatic voltage regulator, but instead of getting the recommended 220 volts, the system operated on 380 volts — forcing a shutdown of the entire system.  The overvoltage however left some damage on key components, like satellite dishes.

READ: UPS failure caused glitch at CAAP’s Air Traffic Management Center, says DOTr

READ: Air traffic system glitch diverts all flights in Manila 

/MUF/abc