Team sent to check Clark security after thefts

The Office of the Transportation and Safety (OTS) of the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) have sent teams to verify the alleged theft of 2,195 meters of power cables at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here.

The joint assessment by the OTS and CAAP was made public by Victor Jose Luciano, president of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), in a news release on Monday.

Speaking to the Inquirer by telephone, Luciano said he opted to take a leave of absence to avoid influencing the assessment being done by aviation experts on the alleged missing power cables.

He said he requested these agencies to “conduct an impartial and competent assessment of the runways, taxiways and the entire airfield to determine the status of the power cables.”

Luciano, however, did not make any reference to the investigation ordered by acting CIAC Chair Felipe Antonio Remollo on a series of incidents in which Reynaldo Catacutan, vice president for airport operations management group, alleged that Luciano aided the suspects by helping them get access pass in highly restricted areas.

CIAC executive vice president, Bienvenido Manga, said representatives from the OTS and CAAP arrived here on Saturday.

Remollo said the investigation “would spare no one in ferreting out the truth.”

“I trust in the integrity of the CIAC board,” Catacutan said of the investigation.

Luciano said he expected an impartial probe to proceed. The previous chair, Nestor Mangio, reportedly resigned over several issues, including the alleged sale of scrap metal salvaged from former American government-controlled buildings last year.

The suspects have not been arrested or charged although they appeared for questioning. Jose Marlowe Pedregosa, airport security manager, had recommended the filing of civil or criminal charges against them for pilferage or theft.

Aside from apparently bringing in the OTS and CAAP to help settle the issue, Luciano said he had also asked the managers of CIAC engineering and security departments to clarify issues that were repeated in Monday’s news release.

“The alleged missing power cables are just remnants of the old powerlines that were pilfered in the past,” the release said. It quoted Pedregosa as saying that “the safety and security of the Clark airport were not compromised.”  Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon