Senator Grace Poe said Sunday she wants the Senate to investigate the accident on the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport that paralyzed the country’s main gateway for two days.
Poe, chairman of the Senate committee on public services, said she would file a resolution Monday, Aug. 20, directing her panel to inquire into operational procedures in responding to such emergencies, and get airport authorities to explain why it took them 36 hours to remove the stalled passenger jet.
Senator JV Ejercito, meanwhile, said the airport mishap highlighted the need to build another airport.
“The single international runway will not really work anymore,” he said in a statement.
“At this point the quickest solution for Manila’s airport problems is to have a twin airport system between Clark [International Airport] and Naia, just like Haneda and Narita in Tokyo,” he added.
In support of this, the government needs to speed up work on the Philippine National Railways north rail line connecting Manila to Clark, where a new P12-billion terminal is being built.
Ejercito, whose flight was canceled because of the mishap, said two successive administrations have failed to decide where to build the new airport.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said it was time to decide what to do with Naia.
“Should we have a second runway or are we going to build one in Bulacan or Clark? I think government should make a decision,” he said.
Hundreds of domestic and international flights were cancelled for two days while a number of flights were diverted to Clark or Cebu after a Xiamen Airlines flight veered off while landing amid a heavy downpour on Thursday evening shortly before midnight.
“We will give time for airport authorities to have a complete report on the effects of the runway closure during and after the incident,” Poe added.
Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade, Manila International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal, airline executives as well as some affected passengers will be invited to the hearing, Poe said.
She said the hearing will also tackle Senate Resolution No. 782 filed by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on the status of Metro Manila airports and the government’s plans, if any, to modernize them to meet growing demand.
Poe said she wants to know how airport authorities and airline employees handled the situation after comments and stories circulating on social media indicated the chaotic condition at the airport, with seemingly endless lines of passengers being made to wait without food or water.
Flight information displays were also shut so airline staff had to walk around with pieces of paper with the flight details to call for boarding.
“The public deserves an acceptable explanation. This is important, considering that Naia remains the primary gateway for foreign tourists into the country. Note, also, that Naia is operating at overcapacity. It was built to handle some 30-million passengers, but is currently accommodating around 42 million,” Poe said.
Poe said she also wants to know the status of the P350 billion plan of a private consortium composed of seven conglomerates to rehabilitate and upgrade NAIA submitted to the government last March.
The pilot and first officer of Xiamen Air Flight MF8667 have been prevented from leaving the country for investigation purposes.
In the House, Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento also underscored the need to develop an alternative airport outside Metro Manila.
Sarmiento, chairman of the House committee on transportation, called on the Department of Transportation to develop the Clark International Airport in Pampanga, a new airport in Cavite’s Sangley Point and the multi-billiion-peso airport in Bulacan being proposed by San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang.
“The most practical idea is to move out. Create another airport for the convenience and comfort [of the passengers], and avoid traffic in the metro,” he told radio dzBB.”‹ “‹