DMW wants MIAA, CAAP to notify it of flight-related incidents

After the New Year's Day fiasco at airports including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) due to an air traffic management system issue, the Department of Migrant Workers said it wants the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to notify it immediately of any flight-related incidents.

Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople made the proposal at a briefing that was led by Senator Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday.

"Admittedly po, we could have acted earlier...We need talaga a more institutionalized partnership with MIAA and CAAP. Sabihan sana kami starting line pa lang, nakikita nilang magkaka-aberya, sana merong ganoon and we will work that out po...Parang lesson learned po," Ople said.

(We should be told, at the starting line, once they see something wrong. It should be like that and we will work it out. So this can be a lesson learned.)

"CAAP and MIAA should alert us once there’s a crisis of some sort," she added.

Ople said she only learned about the incident through a Viber message and through the media, because no one from the MIAA or CAAP had informed them.

"May nag-Viber po sa akin na nasa airport and then nag-start na 'yung paglabas sa media. So hindi po galing sa MIAA or CAAP ang pag-inform sa amin. Kailangan naming mag-MOA with these agencies... para habang inaayos nila ang technical problems, kami naka-set up na on the ground," she suggested.

(Someone at the airport sent me a message on Viber and then the media started reporting on it. So our information didn't come from MIAA or CAAP. We need to have a memorandum of agreement with these agencies...so that while they're fixing the technical problems, we would already have set up on the ground.)

The DWM secretary also said that there should be a quick response team from the department which will handle any airport-related incidents.

Ople said most of the flight rebooking of the overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who were affected by the NAIA air traffic mess last January 1 were shouldered by their employers.

If the rebooking cost was shouldered by the employee, Ople said OFWs can coordinate with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) so they can bring it up with CAAP.

Philippine airspace effectively closed on New Year's Day due to technical issues at the CAAP's Philippine Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC).

At least 282 flights were canceled, diverted, or delayed, and some 56,000 passengers at NAIA were affected. — BM, GMA Integrated News