Grace Poe urges CAAP employees to testify on airspace shutdown

Senator Grace Poe on Thursday appealed to the employees of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to share with senators any information that may shed light on the New Year's Day airspace shutdown in the Philippines.

The chairperson of the Senate public services committee said the Senate can offer protection to anyone who would blow the whistle on irregularities that may have led to the incident.

"I call on the employees of CAAP if, for some reason, meron kayong nalalaman tungkol dito...pumunta po kayo sa amin, kahit sinong senador na inyong pinagkakatiwalaan," Poe said in her closing statement during the Senate investigation into the airspace shutdown.

"Sabihin ninyo kung anong alam ninyo, kung meron kayong video na nangyari dahil walang CCTV d'on... Kung sa tingin ninyo na nagkukulang ang gobyerno at may tinatago, sabihin po ninyo sa amin poprotektahan po namin kayo," she added.

The lawmaker made the call as she and Senators Risa Hontiveros and Robin Padilla noticed that the root cause of the incident has yet to be determined despite the hours-long hearing.

"Kasi wala pong moving forward kung hindi natin alam eksakto ano 'yung iniiwanan natin sa nakaraan... That's the basis on which our committee can also make recommendations moving forward," Hontiveros said.

Padilla expressed his disappointment with the transportation officials, saying they have not shown any remorse over the incident.

"Walang magagawa. Walang umaamin kung ano talaga ang nangyari. Pero gusto ko lang ipaalam sa inyo na 56,000 katao ang naistorbo po diyan sa nangyari noong January 1," Padilla said.

"At hindi ko po naramdaman sa hearing na ito magmula 1:30 na may pagsisisi o may remorse. Wala ho. Hindi ko naramdaman yan," he added.

The Senate public services committee on Thursday launched an investigation into the fiasco that happened in the country's main gateway on January 1.

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. —NB, GMA Integrated News