Poe on air traffic system glitch: Is this a national security issue?

Ninoy Aquino International Airport (LYN RILLON / INQUIRER file photo)

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe on Sunday said that she wants to know whether or not the recent glitch that struck the country’s air traffic system at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is a national security issue.

 Local and international carriers suspended flights following the power outage at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center on the first day of the year

The problem, however, has been partially resolved, according to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).

“Hinihintay pa natin ang official report mula sa airport authorities pero dapat nating marinig sa kanila kung national security problem na ba ito,” Poe said in a statement on Sunday.

(We are waiting for the official report from airport authorities but we need to determine whether or not this is a national security concern.)

“In an airport setting, the impact of such a system failure can be catastrophic,” Poe said.

“Whatever caused the disruption in our radar services in NAIA, it demonstrates how wide-reaching the impact can be of the disruption in a single service.”

The senator also recalled a similar incident last September 2022 when several flights were cancelled and delayed following a power outage due to the issue on NAIA Terminal 3’s power substation.

“The [Department of Transportation] and MIAA  assured us that actions will be undertaken to prevent recurrence of the incident,” she said.

“We want to know what these actions were and how come it happened again?”

Poe emphasized the need for multiple contingency plans and the immediate rollout of full assistance to all stranded passengers “to make being stranded during the holidays as less traumatic as possible.”

“Bagong taon pero lumang problema. (It’s a new year but we are facing old problems). We were optimistic that the new year would spur change for the better, but it seems that our air transport’s new year’s resolution has been broken on the first day of the year,” she added.