Ni NOEL ABUEL
Malinaw na nagpapahiwatig ng pangangailangan nang paghiwalayin ang regulatory at commercial functions ng Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Ito ang sinabi ni Northern Samar First District Rep. Paul R. Daza kaugnay ng naranasang fiasco sa Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) na maraming biyahe ang nakansela.
“The recent fiasco at the NAIA clearly signals the need to separate the regulatory and commercial functions of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP),” sabi pa ni Daza.
Nabatid na mahigit sa 300 flights ang naapektuhan ng power outage ng Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) ng CAAP noong Bagong Taon na nakaapekto sa mahigit sa 65,000 pasahero.
“We are assured that an investigation is already being done, however that is also problematic because it’s the same agency investigating its own,” aniya.
Sinasabing ang CAAP ay itinatag sa pamamagitan ng An Act Creating the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Authorizing the Appropriation of Funds Therefor, and for Other Purposes (RA 9497 of 2008).
Ayon pa kay Daza, kasama sa trabaho nito ang parehong komersyal at regulatory function, na posibleng lumikha ng conflict of interest.
“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?,’” pag-uusisa pa ng kongresista.
Nakasaad sa Section 21 ng RA 9497 na itinakda na ang CAAP ay may tungkulin sa parehong “development and utilization of the air potential of the Philippines” at “regulation of air transportation…”.
Tinatamasa rin nito ang awtonomiya sa pananalapi (Section 15) at exemption mula sa buwis, customs, at mga tungkulin sa taripa sa pag-angkatbng kagamitan, makinarya, at iba pang materyales.
“We could no longer afford another similar incident; thousands of lives had been put at risk and will be put at risk if this should ever happen again,” babala pa nito.
Nanawagan din si Daza sa kanyang mga kasamahan sa Kongreso na magsagawa ng joint investigation kasama ang Senado para makakuha ng malinaw na sagot.
“The government needs to create an impartial body that will conduct an investigation on what really happened—this body should not be within CAAP,” rekomendasyon pa ni Daza.
Idinetalye pa ni Daza na ang pagreporma sa CAAP ay mangangailangan ng paghahain ng ilang mga panukalang batas para sa huli at opisyal na paghiwalayin ang mga tungkulin sa regulasyon at pag-unlad ng ahensya.
“The CAAP must be enhanced to focus on being a regulatory body, while two other operational and independent investigative agencies must be created to perform the mentioned functions. The same also needs to be applied to maritime regulatory agencies such as the PPA [Philippine Ports Authority],” paliwanag pa nito.
“This is a wake-up call. In an archipelagic country where air- and sea-based travel is
critical to growth, we can’t be this complacent and worse, be left behind,” dagdag pa nito.
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