Sen. Tolentino to CAAP Over New Year's Day Fiasco: What Happened to Your Backup Systems and Business Continuity Plans?

MANILA - Citing evidence gathered by him, as well as the utter failure of the backup systems and business continuity plans (BCP) of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Senator Francis 'Tol' N. Tolentino has called for a Senate investigation into Sunday's New Year's Day fiasco where the skies over the Philippines were totally shut down due to its radar and air traffic management center (ATMC) systems malfunctioning.

In an interview with DZRH, Tolentino said that the leadership of CAAP should explain to the public why their supposed backup facilities and BCP did not kick into gear, causing massive flight cancellations of both foreign and domestic flights scheduled out of the country, and forcing incoming flights to divert to other routes.

Also citing video footage obtained by his sources, Tolentino noted that CAAP's Tagaytay City facilities were functioning normally, even in the midst of the ensuing chaos at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), causing him to ask: "What really happened?"

"Pinapuntahan ko po iyon... kasi alam ko po yung approach ng NAIA sa Tagaytay po muna nag bibigay ng signal pero operational naman po sila, may video ako. Sabi nung mga tao roon eh nakatanggap lang sila ng abiso don sa ATMC na nagkaroon ng fluctuation," said Tolentino.

"Habang nangyayari po sa Maynila, sa NAIA, pinapuntahan ko yung CAAP radar sa Tagaytay para sa ganon po e ma-check ko kung mayroong abnormality nga. So normal po doon pero talagang nakakalungkot dahil first day of the year e maraming hindi makabalik sa NAIA," he added.

The senator stressed that CAAP should explain in the upcoming Senate inquiry what really happened last January 1.

"Yung mga paliparan po sa ibang bansa--sa Ukraine--kahit may digmaan e nagagamit pa ho yung iba. So dapat talaga maibestigahan ito," he said.