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THE
Philippines is poised to recover soon from the downgrade
of its aviation ratings because the reason for the
downgrade has already been resolved through legislation,
according to Sen. Edgardo Angara, who cited the passage
of the final version of the civil aviation authority
bill in the bicameral conference committee Tuesday
night.
Angara
was referring to a recent International Aviation Safety
Assessment report (IASA) in which the US Federal
Administration reclassified the Philippines as Category
2, which means the country is noncompliant with
international standards.
“One of
the reasons our safety aviation rating has been
downgraded is because we lack a centralized aviation
body. We have an Air Transportation Office (Ato) that
does not meet the International Civil Aviation
Organization’s (Icao) standards. Congress has already
responded to that, by prioritizing the bill creating a
centralized civil aviation authority,” Senator Angara,
who cosponsored the civil aviation bill in the Senate,
said.
Angara
noted that the Ato still operates under an archaic 1952
civil aviation law, which requires it to remit its
earnings to the government. “Thus, our aviation
authority is impinged with unnecessary bureaucratic
procedures. In other countries, this problem has been
solved through a centralized aviation authority,” he
added.
He said
countries like the United Kingdom, New Zealand,
Australia, Uganda, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore, Fiji
Islands, Ireland, Romania, Jamaica, South Africa, Sri
Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago have all restructured
their regulatory policies and framework and created a
“stand-alone civil aviation authority.” The move, he
said, had worked to their advantage in promoting their
aviation industry by way of a smaller bureaucracy, and
efficiency in meeting Icao standards and recommended
practices.
“Our new
Civil Aviation Authority functions as a regulatory
agency, charged with creating and implementing rules
that will promote the aviation industry in the country
while emphasizing aviation safety at all times,” Angara
added. “It now enjoys fiscal autonomy subject to
Congress oversight, allowing it to be more flexible in
performing its duties.”
According to Angara, the creation of a Civil Aviation
Authority will also comply with the Philippines’s
commitments to the Convention of International Civil
Aviation, and the RP-US Service Agreement. |
