MIAA expects US travel advisory to be lifted soon

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is optimistic that the travel advisory issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on the country's airports will soon be lifted.

According to a report by JP Soriano on State of the Nation with Jessica Soho, officials are expecting the decision will be out in two weeks.

MIAA general manager Ed Monreal said the country has complied with the requirements set by the TSA to ensure the safety and security of the public in the airports.

"It's not official because we haven't seen any documents yet, but those people who came by together with the head of their team (TSA) assured us that we are compliant," Monreal said.

"I'm hoping that we will be out of the public notice very soon," he added.

The TSA is under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) tasked to protect American transportation system.

In December last year, a travel advisory supposedly posted by the DHS warned travelers going to the Philippines that its prime airport in Manila, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), lacks aviation security measures.

In its advisory the DHS said the Philippines' main gateway "does not maintain and carry out effective security consistent with the security standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)."

Monreal had said that the DHS came up with 16 recommendations for NAIA to step up its security protocol, of which seven have already been completed.

Among the measures raised by the TSA that needed to be beefed up were airport operations, quality control, access control, aircraft security, passenger and cabin baggage security, among others.

Monreal said that these have been complied with from January to May this year.

Among the security measures to be installed at NAIA  were the electronic explosive trace detector and new x-ray machines with dual view.

"Yung quality, they're requesting us to do a comprehensive background check sa lahat ng empleyado, through the efforts of our security personnel, we were able to comply and na-resolve po natin," Monreal said. —LDF, GMA News