JFC urges passage of air transport reform legislation

MANILA, Philippines — The Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) is urging Congress to pass much-needed air transport reform legislation.

The JFC expressed its  support for the recommendations contained in Senate Committee Report  No. 39 on the Air Traffic Management System glitch at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) earlier this year.

Among the recommendations in the Senate report  is the amendment of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines charter to strengthen CAAP as an agency and to decouple its conflicting functions as regulator, operator and investigator.

The Senate also recommended the passage of bills creating the Philippine Transportation Safety Board (PTSB) and the Philippine Airports Authority to allow for more efficiency and transparency in the sector.

“Senate and House Bills have already been filed and are pending in both chambers, with Senate Bill 1121 creating the PTSB sponsored for plenary approval by Sen. (Grace) Poe on March 7,” the JFC said.

“We urge relevant committees in both chambers to conduct public hearings on the bills pending at the committee level and for the Senate to commence deliberations on SB 1121 at the soonest possible time,” it said.

The JFC emphasized that the incident at the NAIA, with the disruption it caused to air transportation throughout the country, is a strong reminder of the need to pass laws to institute structural reforms in the air transport sector.

“The members of the JFC commend the Senate Committee on Public Services’ timely issuance of the report under the chairmanship of Senator Poe and its recommendation of legislation that will align the Philippines with international standards of transportation safety and security,” the JFC said.

“The members of the JFC – with other industry associations such as the Safe Travel Alliance, Air Carriers Association of the Philippines, and the International Air Transport Association – have long advocated for these reforms and we are optimistic that with congressional, executive and private sector support, we will finally see their enactment in the 19th Congress,” it said.

In a letter to the Senate public services and House transportation committees earlier this year, the JFC expressed support for the creation of the PTSB.

Patterned after best practices in other countries, the  proposed board will serve as an independent and impartial transport safety body that will address regulatory gaps in the transport safety bureaucracy, facilitate the enhancement of transportation safety measures and standards, and coordinate all the actions of relevant public and private entities toward the common goal of ensuring transport safety.

According to the  JFC,  all investigations on transportation accidents are undertaken by the government agencies that have regulatory powers over the respective sector of the transportation industry.

“Because most of these agencies are also tasked to regulate and/or operate the sector, there is an inherent conflict of interest in the performance of their duties as investigating bodies,” the JFC said earlier.