Backup for backups

With flights to and from Manila now back, a full review of our civil aviation’s business discontinuity plan and protocols must be immediately called by Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista to prevent the unfortunate incident that happened over the weekend.

In a recent press briefing conducted by Bautista, it appears that the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) equipment that was installed for two terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) malfunctioned and failed to connect to the Meralco power supply line when this suddenly went offline.

This just shows a poor understanding of how the various equipment at the country’s major international gateway are geared to work. The UPS malfunction is pretty much like driving a car that you know has a battery life already past the manufacturer’s warranty.

As for the power outage that damaged satellite data equipment when the power lines had to be manually connected to Meralco, that act can be likened to someone plugging a 110-volt equipment into a 220-volt outlet. Ka-boom!

From the bits and pieces of information emerging, starting from an unreliable piece of crucial equipment to the overall antiquated air traffic navigational system of NAIA 2 and 3, the most glaring lesson that has become apparent is the absence of a sense of responsibility over the past years that led to this recent crisis.

More than the need to modernize our airport system, which Bautista estimates could run to more than P13 billion, maintenance work should be given primary attention so that no equipment will malfunction, and if ever it does, that the backup manuals provide failsafe instructions.

The soft side, meaning regular drills and reviews of the business continuity procedures, are as important as keeping equipment in tip-top condition. Critical equipment, like the UPS, that nears the end of its manufacturer’s life should be replaced without waiting for it to conk out.

For sure, our lawmakers will clamor for an investigation so as to be seen as responding to the complaints of more than 50,000 passengers estimated to have been inconvenienced. Our transportation and airport officials should be ready with answers and a plan to keep the investigation short, and proceed to the more important task of ensuring that what happened will not be repeated. Ever.

‘Fully connected Phl sky’

The country has close to 90 public airports under the jurisdiction of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), with about 40 devoted to domestic and 10 to international travel, and the remaining considered to be community airports that do not have regularly scheduled travel services.

The management of all public airports is already a huge responsibility given the archipelagic geography of the country and the increased propensity of Filipinos to use air travel nowadays given the comparatively affordable cost.

In one of his first briefings as head of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Bautista talked about the need to work on a “fully connected Philippine sky,” which would mean building new airports and upgrading existing ones to allow more Filipinos to enjoy the conveniences of air travel, as well as support both domestic and international tourism initiatives.

As part of the previous administration’s Build Build Build (BBB) infrastructure push, about a dozen airport projects are expected to be completed this year, with a total cost of over P1 trillion. Many will be vital to inter-regional travel.

Two big projects – San Miguel Corp.’s P740-billion New Manila International Airport (NMIA) in Bulacan) and the P610-billion Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) by a joint consortium of private investors with the provincial government of Cavite – are due for completion in 2026 and 2030, respectively.

NMIA, in particular, is expected to be crucial in decongesting NAIA, which has consistently landed poorly in various rankings of international airports. At one point last year, Bautista had been quoted as saying that NAIA could be closed once NMIA and SPIA become operational.

During the past decades, amidst calls to improve NAIA and transform it into a truly modern air travel hub, the government has been unable to find a solution. In fact, NAIA Terminal 3, which was finally opened in 2008 after almost two decades of delays due to legal squabbling, was largely underutilized until 2020.

Neglected seaports

Increasingly, we’re seeing the wisdom of opening our airport infrastructure program to public-private partnerships (PPP) as the less painless way of expanding our network of travel hubs, whether these be key international gateways or simply essential to tourism travel.

The same PPP approach should also be encouraged with our seaports, which are not only needed for the transport of people, but more so goods. As the country braces for higher economic growth, seaports will play an important role in receiving imported commodities and sending them out to the different regions of the country or in exchanging products from different regions.

Many of our seaports badly need upgrading. Congestion is a big problem in the major ones, leading to delays in the release of cargo, and consequently adding to the higher cost of transporting them to their intended recipients.

According to the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP), the red tape associated with the release of shipments at major ports accounts for a 27 percent increase in the price of goods that consumers ultimately have to pay for.

Here too, something must be urgently done. Our seaport issue could well be a major reason why the cost of many goods sold in the country are so much higher compared to other countries that similarly are dependent on the same items that we import.

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