The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Friday sought to clarify earlier pronouncements by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) over the recent arrest of a commercial pilot who allegedly sold methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” to an undercover agent.
CAAP maintained that Rioklyn Toledo, who was arrested by PDEA in Taguig City on July 14, was no longer on its roster of active pilots as of January.
“This report on Toledo has great repercussion on us pilots. The public may have apprehensions on travelling by air because of this,” said Capt. Armando Ricohermoso, chief of the CAAP licensing department.
CAAP spokesperson Joy Songsong said the agency’s records showed that Toledo’s Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) had expired on Jan. 21, 2012, and that he was no longer flying any aircraft since.
Dr. Rolly Bayaban, officer in charge of CAAP’s Office of the Flight Surgeon and Medicine, also maintained that “we at CAAP conduct random drug testing on airline pilots, including cabin crew, aside from the annual tests that the commercial airlines like PAL and Cebu Pacific initiate.”
PDEA earlier said that Toledo, 40, a resident of Parañaque City, was arrested in an entrapment operation after selling over 9 grams of shabu to a poseur buyer. PDEA Director General Jose Gutierrez Jr. then said Toledo also reportedly supplied drugs to fellow pilots and foreign tourists.
Reached for comment Friday, PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon said the agency had no intention of maligning the reputation of pilots or putting the local airline industry in a bad light.
Carreon said PDEA would defer to the findings of the CAAP about Toledo’s professional background and his status as a commercial pilot.
“There is no quarrel between PDEA and CAAP officials. We respect their findings because they are the authority on this since they have the records,” the PDEA official said.
“It was Toledo who represented himself as a pilot. That was also the information gathered by our agents,” he added.
“We will support the efforts of the CAAP in making the skies safer for the public and in protecting the whole aviation industry,” he said.