The Senate Committee on Public Services followed a “non-punitive tone” in investigating the technical glitches that happened on January 1, New Year’s Day at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) that caused a shutdown of the country’s airspace.
Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate public services panel, insisted on taking such approach during the committee’s initial probe on Thursday, January 12, pointing out that public safety is still paramount.
"While the loudest call right now may have been for heads to roll, it is proposed that the hearing adopts a non-punitive tone for now especially to technical officers like CAAP engineers if we are to exact the truth behind the incident and prevent the same from happening again,” Poe said during the opening of the hearing.
“Accountability will follow after laying out the steps to ensure the safety of passengers,” the senator said.
Poe reiterated that the committee hearing aims to find the real answers as there have been many theories regarding the cause of the incident.
“There are many theories being posited but the only real answer will have to come from CAAP as it has all the logs of the incident,” she said.
“It is important to note that CAAP follows the nonpunitive nature of investigations, much like what we propose in the PTSB,” added the lawmaker.
Poe is referring to Senate Bill No. 1121 or the proposed Philippine Transportation Safety Board (PTSB). The bill seeks to create the PTSB whose primary mandate is not only to investigate on transport-related accidents but to also look at its causes and help prevent them.
At the same time, Poe expressed her frustration at Transportation officials noting that the air traffic fiasco happened on the first day of 2023 and less than a month since she delivered a speech regarding the lamentable state of the country’s transportation system.
“But above all, we cannot overlook the impact of this incident. The domino effect is massive and chaotic. Hindi ko na iisa-isahin pa ang mga (I will not go into detail of the) horror stories. I’m sure our airport officials and air carriers have heard enough,” she said.