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THE Air
Transportation Office (Ato) on Thursday defended itself
from criticisms that it has done nothing to prevent the
aviation body from being downgraded by the US Federal
Aviation Administration (Faa) to Category 2, even as
Malacañang designated the transportation secretary as
concurrent Ato chief for three months.
“The Ato has filed House Bill 1602, then
known as the Philippine Civil Aviation Authority [Pcaa]
bill, during the 10th Congress in 1977, but it remained
a bill until now,” according to Ato sources.
They said the bill’s name was eventually
changed to Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap)
so that it would not be in conflict with the initials
that had been adopted by Pakistan.
Acting ATO Assistant Secretary Daniel
Dimagiba refused to comment on the matter, saying that
he was appointed only last December and was not fully
informed of the development in Congress.
At the Palace, President Arroyo
designated Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza as
concurrent officer in charge of the Ato and gave him
three months to work on the requirements for the
Philippines to regain its Category 1 rating from the US
FAA.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye told
reporters in a phone-patch interview that Mendoza’s
designation is part of government efforts to hasten the
country’s recovery from the FAA downgrade, which will
hurt local carriers eyeing expansion programs.
“The President gave him a three-month
deadline to comply with FAA/International Civil Aviation
Organization (Icao) requirements which are mostly
administrative in nature. The issues involved here are
merely technicalities and documentation and do not
concern issues on safety,” Bunye said.
Mendoza’s appointment as concurrent ATO
chief and the forthcoming passage of the bill creating
the Civil Aviation Authority are expected, he said, to
“remedy whatever technical deficiencies there are” in
the country’s aviation system.
Mendoza takes over the job held in an
acting capacity by Dimagiba since October last year,
when he replaced then-ATO chief Nilo Jatico.
Bunye clarified that the downgrade of
the
Philippines
to Category 2 is “more an administrative and technical
requirement issue rather than one of [safety of
Philippine carriers].”
“I don’t think they are questioning the
safety of our planes. We have a very high safety record
and I believe that the administrative and technical
aspects will be addressed by the Ato,” he said.
Philippine officials believe that once
the CAA is created by law, the Philippines can adhere to
Icao standards as there will be more funds available for
the upgrade and maintenance of the country’s 85
airports.
Under the proposed CAA Act, the CAA will
have fiscal autonomy that would enable it to spend its
estimated P3-billion annual revenues.
The Ato, which will be abolished once
the CAA is in place, has an annual budget of only P1
billion.
It has come under fire from legislators
for failing to inform the Senate that it is in danger of
losing its Category 1 status if the Caap bill is not
immediately signed into law.
The Ato downgrading has embarrassed the
country before the world’s aviation community, aside
from affecting the expansion plans of flag carrier
Philippine Airlines to the US East Coast.
According to Ato sources, the Caap bill
was with the 11th, 13th and 14th Congresses. The 13th
Congress stopped discussing the bill because of the
impeachment case lodged against President Arroyo and was
completely forgotten during the 12th Congress, when Edsa
Dos ousted President Joseph Estrada.
The Ato officials said the Caap bill was
even mentioned by President Arroyo in her State of the
Nation Address in July 2007, when she asked the
legislators to have it immediately approved.
Malacañang had certified the Caap bill
urgent but it had yet to hurdle the bicameral conference
committee.
The Ato allayed fears of legislators
that once approved, the Caap would lead to abuse by
whoever would lead it, since the Ato has a yearly income
of P3 billion and a capitalization of P75 billion with
powers to level charges and fees.
“Although the Caap has been granted
fiscal autonomy to dispose its income, it is still
subject to audit, similar to the audit being done with
the Manila International Airport Authority [Miaa] with a
yearly income of about P6.7 billion,” the Ato sources
said.
Sen. Joker Arroyo has accused the
Department of Transportation and Communications (Dotc),
which has jurisdiction over the Ato, of stampeding the
senators into passing the bill to create the Caa as a
way to stave off the Faa downgrade.
The Ato officials said that the bottom
line is for Congress to pass the Caap bill so that once
it has access to funds, the Ato, by then renamed Caap,
would be able to finance its upgrading program and
return the aviation body to Category 1 status.
“Let us stop the blame game, the Ato has
not been remiss in its duty, and it is now in the hands
of Congress to do their part,” the Ato official said.
He added that the problems besetting the
Ato is systemic, meaning that it has been under
financial constraints and bureaucratic red tape for so
long that only legislation could solve its problems.
Still, DOTC chief Mendoza welcomes a
Senate investigation into the downgrading.
He
said DOTC “and its agencies will actively participate in
the inquiry because this will enable the DOTC to push
for the enactment” of the bill creating Caap, and “other
bills pending in Congress related to transportation
safety and security.”
According to Mendoza, the Philippines,
a member of Icao, is one of the very few countries
which still has a regulator that does not have
independence and fiscal autonomy. The ATO is still
governed by Republic Act 776, otherwise known as the
Civil Aeronautics Act of the Philippines, which is now
outdated, Mendoza asserted.
RA 776 reorganized the Civil Aeronautics
Board and the Civil Aeronautics Administration. It
defined the powers and duties of both agencies,
including the funding, personnel and the regulations of
civil aviation, the DOTC chief said.
With the enactment into law of the CAAP bill, the ATO
can get exemption from the government
salary-standardization program and can provide
competitive pay for civil-aviation technical inspectors
and personnel, Mendoza said, confirming figures earlier
cited in BusinessMirror on the uncompetitive pay for
check-pilots and other vital technical staff.
Besides the Caap bill, other pertinent
bills pending in Congress include the bill creating the
Philippine Transportation and Security Administration,
which is a requirement of Icao and the International
Maritime Organization (IMO). The bill has not yet been
passed despite its filing and refiling in Congress.
“Right now, we only have an interim
organization that addresses transportation security, the
Office for Transportation Security [OTS], which was
created through Executive Order 311,” Mendoza declared.
“The Philippine Coast Guard bill, which
is required by the IMO, has also been filed and refiled
in Congress, but remains pending,” he added.
The DOTC has also drafted for filing
with Congress a bill creating the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)—an independent
transportation-accident investigation organization. It
also aims to adopt recommended standards and measures
to prevent the occurrence of transportation-related
accidents. Other major countries in the world have this
independent investigative body, Mendoza said.
A Philippine Merchant Shipping bill that
will cover maritime shipping (domestic and
international), seafarers, and shipbuilding and other
maritime-transportation concerns was also proposed.
Mendoza
saidRepublic Act 4136, enacted in June 1964, otherwise
known as the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, is
already antiquated and needs amendment. |
