House probe on 'preventable' NAIA air traffic mess sought

House good government and accountability panel head Florida Robes on Wednesday sought a probe over a power outage at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)’s air traffic management system that caused Philippine airspace shutdown during New Year’s Day.

Robes, one of the over 65,000 affected passengers, filed House Resolution 672 in relation to the malfunction of the Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) System on January 1 that either delayed, grounded, or cancelled around 282 flights.

She said it is baffling that CNS/ATM system already conked out when the P10.8 billion worth equipment, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency, only went fully operational in 2019.

“Given the funding for it from loan and the government and the required proper maintenance, regular audit and assessment of its capability, the [Philippine airspace] shutdown and substantial risks to national security should have been prevented, thousands of flight passengers would not have been stranded and inconvenienced and we would not have substantial loss to the tourism,” Robes said.

House Deputy Minority Leader Paul Daza agreed with Robes that an inquiry is in order, especially that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has regulatory and commercial functions.

“We are assured that an investigation is already being done. However, that is also problematic because it’s the same agency investigating its own,” he said in a separate statement.

“Many have already spoken and, most likely, everyone is right. There seems to be negligence but the more critical question is, ‘How can we ensure objectivity in the investigation if CAAP is the one investigating itself?’” Daza pointed out.

Joint probe

He said it should be "a joint investigation with the Senate to get clear answers."

“We could no longer afford another similar incident. Thousands of lives have been put at risk and will be put at risk if this should ever happen again. I call on my colleagues [in the House] to hold a joint investigation with the Senate to get clear answers. This is a wake-up call. We can’t be complacent and worse, be left behind,” Daza said.

At least five Senate resolution have been filed seeking a probe into the incident. Senate Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate public services committee, said she intends to call for a hearing on January 12.

CAAP deputy director general for operations Edgardo Diaz earlier said they are open to face external probe over the incident.—AOL, GMA Integrated News