Did Phl fail int’l audit again?

A while back I wrote a column on the current sad state of the Philippine aviation industry. It was deemed that our Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) was doing so poor a job that it was necessary to classify our airport with a Category 2 status because we did not comply with world safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Because of this we cannot expand our services into international airports but instead must lease from other operators with Category 1 status. This prevents our local carriers, despite having brand spanking new planes from flying them to various destinations. 

Several safety assessments and audits have been done since 2007, 2009, and just last year that have yet to lift the Category 2 status. As of last year, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) still found 23 “critical elements” that the CAAP has to address before we can be given a Category 1 ranking.

Another audit/accreditation visit was set for February 18-22 and the six-man team arrived in the country last week to assess the Philippines’ aviation safety standards and practices. The ICAO delegation, composed of Henry Gourdji, Amal Hewawasam, Vincent Lambotte, Christopher Dalton, Guseu Kim, and Saulo Jose da Silva were set to look into five major safety issues especially during the time here. As they arrived to begin the audit, CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss III said they were hopeful that the aviation regulatory board would bring the Philippines back to Category 1 status.

However, over the weekend news hullabaloo and the usual reports of politicians changing parties and partnerships, news leaked out that CAAP was not successful in passing the international audit. According to inside sources, only one of five major issues has been properly addressed while the others still remain unresolved causing us not to pass the audit yet again. Should this be true, the Category 2 status will remain while more attempts to resolve the problems are undertaken. In the meantime, Philippine carriers cannot get more flights to the US.

The news is troubling to me, to say the least. As a frequent traveler to the US it is disheartening that I can’t fly the Philippine Airlines (PAL) new aircraft there but instead am sent to Toronto instead and have to take another flight to San Francisco. This is too much of a hassle to me as a passenger and a pity that they can’t use their new aircraft to their fullest potential. It’s sad because many Filipinos do want to fly PAL but end up choosing other carriers to save themselves the non-direct route.

The news though of the audit failure, may have been premature. The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) denied reports that CAAP flunked the audit by the ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) team. DOTC Secretary Joseph Abaya reported that the ICVM team was satisfied with their observations and findings on CAAP’s efforts to amend the problems and comply with international safety standards and no longer see significant safety concerns. They will recommend to the ICAO headquarters to lift the Significant Safety Concerns (SSC) issued to the Philippines. Abaya further went on to say that he is expecting the announcement in two to three weeks time.

Should the SSC be lifted, CAAP can focus on regaining the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 rating. This is something local carriers like PAL and Cebu Pacific are keen on because should the Category 1 status be given they can begin to mount new and additional flights to the United States. Something that Filipinos can look forward to as well.

So the only question that truly remains is what the official findings of the ICVM team are and what action will be taken. Aviation officials seem confident that the Philippines has done enough to have the safety concerns lifted and I hope that is the case. It would be quite embarrassing should we fail to pass this audit for the second time. Not to mention, that would mean the Category 2 status would remain in effect.

I guess we will have to wait and see.

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Every day, we see more and more Filipinos leaving the country and pursuing job opportunities abroad. I don’t understand why our government continues to brag about the big amount of foreign currencies that our OFWs send back home to their families. They call them the “unsung heroes” of the country and praise them for the amazing work they do in other countries.

I join in with the government for applauding their hard work and the immense talent they have, but I can’t help but think that it is such a pity that they felt they had to leave the country for better opportunities abroad. We should not be proud that we do not have jobs for our own people here. We’ve sent so many of our talented and intelligent people abroad that Filipinos have truly dispersed to lands all over the world.

The migration has its share of positives and negatives in my opinion. It is good that our citizens are being given opportunities on a global level. This gives them a wider view of the world and teaches them about different cultures and different people. They can see how different governments and societies work together to achieve success. This knowledge, in turn, is something that they can bring home and share with others.

However, at the same time, this global enlightenment comes at the cost of constantly sending out our talented youth into the world, sometimes never to return. As Randy David wrote in his column last February 14 “I know of no other country in the world that is quite like ours — where the government effectively functions as a placement agency facilitating the deployment of its own people for work abroad. I imagine that the policy of labor is not only ultimately self-defeating for any nation, it must also be a source of shame.”

His description is quite on the money actually. He feels this way because unlike in other countries wherein the youth leave to go abroad for experience and education and then come home enriched and ready to share their experiences, we have people out of necessity and desperation. They know they may not be able to take care of their families through what is available to them here so they go look for it somewhere else. Hopefully this is something that will change in the years ahead. It would be nice to cultivate our youth right here at home.