Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday, January 3 expressed belief that the power systems failure that hit the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on New Year’s Day is but a wake up call to the country’s airport and transportation managers on the need to review and polish the air traffic control system.

Hontiveros said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) admission that the system itself is outdated and that it has been brought to the attention of both former president Rodrigo Duterte and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. shows that this may not just be an “ordinary glitch.”

“Dismissing it as a simple bug ignores the systemic problems at our airports,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

“Let us not take the easy way out and blame the equipment outright. The fact that the back up also failed could mean there are more unseen problems down the line,” Hontiveros added.

The senator, however, said that before undertaking any “upgrade,” government authorities should first check if the problem was compounded by human error or negligence in maintaining the equipment.

She also the incident should propel the government to review the country’s airports vulnerability to cyber attacks.

“Our vulnerability to cyber attacks using the current system must also be assessed, as there have been many cases abroad where it pushed air traffic control systems offline. I have raised a similar call before regarding our National Grid,” she pointed out.

“This is also a wake up call for our airport authorities to review the aggressive schedules of airlines during busy seasons, which could have led to this level of loss of critical functions. Are our ‘outdated’ facilities truly able to handle this amount of activity?” Hontiveros also asked.

“Clearly, someone has to be held accountable...and as prices of air travel, checked bags, hotels and many other charges go up, we owe it to everyone to get it right,” she further said.

Also on Tuesday, more senators joined in filing resolutions calling for an investigation into the power outage that hit NAIA.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, in filing Senate Resolution No. 390 said it is imperative for the Senate to conduct an inquiry as failure to address airspace traffic management will continuously impact the facilitation of domestic trade and seamless business transactions due to, among others, delayed shipment of cargo via air.

Villanueva also warned failure to resolve the problem could hinder the continuous promotion of Philippine tourism whether to local or foreign travelers.

In filing Senate Resolution No. 392, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said a Senate probe into the incident is warranted as it aggravated the already unpleasant image of the NAIA, it being labelled as one of the “worst” and “stressful” airports in the world.

“The latest mess becomes yet another stumbling block for the recovery and revitalization of the tourism industry, which is among the most severely affected sectors during the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Estrada said.

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. said that aside from the technical issues hounding the country’s airports, the Senate probe should also delve into the proper response of airport authorities following the power outage.

Revilla noted that many passengers took to social media to vent their frustrations due to the lack of contingency measures for them.