Senator Joseph Victor ”JV” Ejercito on Thursday, January 5 expressed his disappointment at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines’ (CAAP) failure to back up the air traffic management system (ATMS) of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) despite being granted sufficient funding by Congress.
CAAP is now under fire after a glitch with the NAIA’s ATMS disrupted more than 3,000 inbound and outbound flights throughout the country and affected around 65,000 international and domestic passengers, exactly on New Year’s Day, January 1.
According to Ejercito, he and other senators had worked hard to defend the budget of the CAAP, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and other concerned agencies during the past two administrations.
“All of the things they have asked for – government support, subsidy, airport upgrades, equipment, navigational tools and everything, lalo na yung mga (especially the) night flying capability of other airports – we already gave them. That’s why a lot of airports were already upgraded,” Ejercito said in a televised interview.
“Doon ako nalulungkot (That’s the reason why I’m sad). Why, of all things that they have requested, why the main air traffic management system, how come na dito pa tayo pumalya (Why did we fail in this)?” he pointed out.
The senator said the back up systems could have prevented the NAIA fiasco since the strategic importance of the country’s main ATMC leaves “no room for error.”
“The air traffic management system is very vital. It concerns the air traffic, of course, the surveillance. The whole airspace of Philippine territory should be monitored. And first and foremost, it concerns the safety of all the aircraft that is entering our airspace. So, there is really no room for error for this,” Ejercito explained.
“It has to be perfect, almost perfect. In other countries, there are, sometimes, they have three layers. So, if the first system fails, the back up fails, there’s a third one. That’s why there’s really no compromise. We cannot compromise,” he said, adding that he is also frustrated at the slow pace of the country’s airport upgrading program.
Ejercito also said that in 2018, during his first term in the Senate, there was a P122-million funding appropriated for the improvement of the country’s ATMS, as well as its communication, navigation, and surveillance management system.
This is on top of a P10-billion grant received from overseas development assistance (ODA) at the time.
“Almost all the CAAP and DOTr requested for the budget, I remember defending it and fighting for it. Because that is really necessary. Of course, it will improve our economy,” he said.
Ejercito is among the senators who filed a resolution asking the Senate to conduct an investigation in the New Year’s Day airport fiasco, through Senate Resolution No. 400.
The Senate Committee on Public Services, chaired by Sen. Grace Poe, will be holding its first hearing on the incident on January 12.