NAIA air traffic system glitch also a nat'l security concern — Ejercito

Senator JV Ejercito on Tuesday aired his concern over the country's national security following the power outage that caused flight disruptions at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on January 1, virtually shutting down Philippine airspace.

"Itong nangyari nakakabahala. Hindi dahil ekonomiya natin ang naapektuhan dito, hindi lang 'yung inconvenience pero 'yung safety ng ating mga pasahero ng commercial flight," Ejercito told Dobol B TV in an interview.

"More importantly, ako, 'yung national security. It's a matter of national security. Kumbaga for several hours blind tayo. Hindi natin alam kung may pumapasok na mga eroplano sa atin o hindi. So ito ay hindi dapat nangyayari," he added.

(What happened was alarming, not only because of its effects on the economy and the inconvenience it caused, but, more importantly for me, also because of national security. We were blind for several hours. We didn't know if an aircraft was entering our airspace or what. Something like this should not be happening.)

On the first day of 2023, 282 flights were canceled, diverted, or delayed after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) recorded a technical issue at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC).

Ejercito, the vice-chairperson of the Senate public services committee, is among the senators seeking a congressional investigation into the incident.

Sabotage?

Ejercito said he was also considering the possibility of a "sabotage" that caused the incident.

"Sabi ko nung una baka sabotahe ito... dahil dapat ito may backup na system , 'yung traffic management system dapat nga may backup kasi safety nga ang concern nito. Ano ang nangyari? Marami ang kinakailangang ipaliwanag ang CAAP officials dito," he said.

(I thought at first this may be due to sabotage... because the traffic management system was supposed to have a backup as it concerns safety. But what happened? CAAP officials have a lot of explaining to do.)

As sponsor of the budget of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in the previous Congresses, Ejercito said the lawmakers had given the agency all the budget to improve the systems in different airports.

"Yun ang pinagtataka ko bakit itong mismong air traffic management system ay napabayaan. Tingin ko may negligence nang kaunti kaya talagang dapat may managot," he said.

(I'm wondering why there seems to be neglect involving the air traffic management system. I think someone must be held accountable.)

Ejercito said Congress will provide whatever the DOTr would need because the country "cannot afford another disaster like this to happen."

Despite this, he opposed the idea of privatizing NAIA, saying it is not timely because the development of other airports are already underway.

"Sa tingin ko hindi napapanahon ngayon dahil anyway nandyan na 'yung Clark International Airport...Nasa 10 million passengers annually. Puwede na mag-serve as secondary airport sa NAIA 'yan," he said.

(I don't think the time is right because Clark International Airport, which can accommodate 10 million passengers annually, is already being developed. It can serve as a secondary airport to NAIA.) —KBK, GMA Integrated News