MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate public services committee, has filed a resolution for a full-blown investigation into an "apparent and seeming broken systems of regulations" following the recent runway mishap at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Operations at the country's main gateway were paralyzed when a Xiamen Air plane skidded off the runway last Thursday.
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The incident, Poe said, led to "airport paralysis and affected thousands of passengers and substantial flight cancellations which are anathema to rendering basic public services."
Poe filed Senate Resolution 852 for the purpose of reviewing airport operations and management, assessing tourism, economic and investment impacts, as well as protecting the interest of passengers and the country.
"Don't we have the protocols, needed equipment and manpower to address these kinds of incident? Do we really need at least 36 hours or [a day and a half] to clear our runways?" Poe said in her resolution.
The senator noted that passengers have been complaining on social media of not being accommodated for rebooking as airline ticketing counters have been closed. Some were not given free meals or water after waiting for hours while some overseas Filipino workers opted to buy another ticket.
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Such incidences call for the need to fully enforce the Air Passenger Bill of Rights, which "provides benefits to passengers in times of flight delay or cancellation, among others," the resolution read.
Poe also stressed that proper authorities should be on top of the situation and should convene to figure out how the fiasco could have been handled better.
"Whereas, the incident is truly a jolting wake-up call and we cannot afford to be the epitome of the worst airport in the world again," Poe said.
Xiamen Airlines issues an apology for the mishap and disruption on operations at NAIA. Details here: https://t.co/hR00EdzoEl pic.twitter.com/jxUVq103CV
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) August 20, 2018
The latest airport mishap show the need for the Philippine airport management to review and adopt new rules and standards in the aviation industry, the senator said.
Poe earlier said that airport and transportation officials, as well as airline executives, will be summoned to explain the paralysis of the airport, which affected around 165 international and local flights.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade had apologized to the public following after the airport runway mishap.
“It is a regrettable experience, which is not of our own liking, nor of our own making. I am sorry. We did our very best to address the situation,” Tugade said in a statement.