|
President Gloria Arroyo has instructed the Budget department to
immediately release P110 million to fund the reorganization of the
Air Transportation Office (ATO), and help upgrade the country’s
airports.
Before leaving for Switzerland to attend the
World Economic Forum, the President directed Transportation
Secretary Leandro Mendoza to reorganize ATO and improve its services
within three months.
The money will be used to train ATO’s staff in
the next six months to improve the agency’s regulatory functions
and effectively implement aviation regulations.
Under Mendoza’s watch, the President wants ATO
to upgrade its technical guidance systems, hire new technical
personnel, improve carriers’ licensing, certification and
surveillance, and immediately resolve safety issues.
President Arroyo recently sacked ATO head Daniel
Dimagiba after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
downgraded the Philippines from Category 1 to Category 2 following
the agency’s failure to address aviation safety and security
issues.
The FAA downgraded the country’s status after
American authorities found that the country’s civil aviation
authorities do not provide safety oversight of its air carriers in
accordance with the minimum safety oversight standards of the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
ATO wants permanent head
Even as ATO employees welcomed the appointment
of Mendoza as officer-in-charge, they recommended to the President,
among others, Assistant Secretary Nilo Jatico, as a possible
candidate to permanently head the agency.
In a letter to President Arroyo, ATO employees
said Jatico was instrumental in developing the Philippine Aviation
roadmap and the Safety Enhancement Program which would have helped
avert the FAA’s downgrade.
The aviation roadmap and the safety program
calls for a collaborative effort between the Philippine Aviation
Industry stakeholders and its international counterparts in the
planning and implementation of the Communications, Navigation,
Surveillance, and Air Traffic Management System Development Project.
-- Angelo S. Samonte and Jefferson Antiporda
|
