Senator Grace Poe on Sunday, January 1 called on the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to provide contingency plans and assistance to the stranded passengers who were affected by the sudden air navigation glitches at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Poe said the ongoing cancellation of all inbound and outbound flights in NAIA today shows the need for multiple contingency plans and the immediate rollout of assistance to all stranded passengers for any disruptions.
“Hindi pwedeng nagkukumahog tayo kapag galit na galit na ang mga pasahero (We can't be angry when the passengers are very angry). What a way to start the year,” Poe said in a statement.
“Wala pang isang buwan nang magsalita ako tungkol sa lagay ng air transportation sa bansa (It's been less than a month since I spoke about the state of air transportation in the country), but we’re now adding another problem to the list instead of striking them off,” she pointed out.
Eve with the New Year, the senator noted the country’s transportation sector is still facing the same 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 said.
While she appreciates the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) giving informal assurances that operations are now partially restored and that normal operations "may be" restored within the hour, “our stranded passengers deserve a more definite plan on when flights will resume and what their next moves will be while they wait for the technical issues to be resolved.”
It is also imperative, she said, that the rights of passengers under the Air Passenger Bill of Rights is upheld.
“Dapat makatanggap sila ng anunsiyo mula sa mga airline na kanselado ang byahe nila, at kung umabot ng dalawang oras ang delay ay makatanggap sila ng pagkain at inumin habang naghihintay ng bagong schedule (They should receive an announcement from the airlines that their flight has been canceled, and if the delay reaches two hours they should receive food and drinks while waiting for a new schedule),” Poe said.
“Dagdag pa dito, kung abutin ng tatlong oras ang delay ay maaari na silang ma-rebook o refund, o di kaya ay magpa-book sa ibang airline (In addition to this, if the delay takes three hours, they can be rebooked or refunded, or they can be booked with another airline),” added the lawmaker.
At the same time, Poe called on transport and airport officials, and all airlines to extend full assistance to the passengers to ensure their welfare and to make experience of being stranded during during the holidays as less traumatic as possible.
The senator recalled that last September 2022, NAIA was also gripped by an hour-long power outage which affected a total of 30 domestic and international flights.
In its joint probe with Meralco, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) had said the cause of the problem was traced to the Terminal 3 power substation.
“The DOTr and MIAA assured us that actions will be undertaken to prevent recurrence of the incident. We want to know what these actions were and how come it happened again?” said the Senate Committee on Public Services chairperson.
“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,” she pointed out.
“Hinihintay pa natin ang official report mula sa airport authorities pero dapat nating marinig sa kanila kung national security problem na ba ito (We are still waiting for the official report from the airport authorities but we should hear from them if this is a national security problem),” Poe said.
“In an airport setting, the impact of such a system failure can be catastrophic,” she further lamented.