By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
FOLLOWING the blackout at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3, a lawmaker on Wednesday asked the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to employ a third-party agency to regularly assess the current vulnerabilities of the country’s international and domestic airports.
Nacionalista Party Rep. Mark Villar of Las Piñas said a third-party agency will strengthen the current security-management system, such that the government may be better equipped for risk-identification and control-measures optimization.
“This is not just an issue of power outage. It is, at its very core, an issue of safety and security. It is high time that we proposed strategies to further improve our current infrastructure and capacity, such that it might be able to withstand internal malfunctions and external threats,” said Villar, chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry.
“In assessing the current state of our aviation security, we are able to critically and knowledgeably propose a security-improving measure that is most effective to our circumstances,” he added.
The lawmaker also asked the department to draft contingency measures for all foreseeable threats.
“Our airport personnel, airline staff members and security officials should be able to follow a set of carefully drafted guidelines should another power outage occur. But at this stage—the priority should be to improve our current capability to prevent another similar incident from happening,” he said.
Vulnerability check
FOR her part, senatorial bet Susan Ople urged the DOTC to conduct a comprehensive “vulnerability check” on all international and domestic airports, given the unexpected five-hour power outage at the country’s premier airport a few days ago.
“That calamitous power outage may have branded Naia as among the world’s most vulnerable airports, thus, catching the interest of international terror groups,” Ople said.
She added that with just a few months to go before the next administration comes in, the DOTC owes it to the public to conduct a comprehensive sweep of all airports and port to ensure that all security features, including emergency-power supply, are up and running.
“The DOTC should be seen taking a more proactive role in checking on the potential vulnerabilities in all our airports and ports following the five-hour power outage at Naia Terminal 3. Failure to do so would be like leaving an open invitation at the doorsteps of international terror networks to consider a shadowy visit to the Philippines,” Ople said.