Senator Raffy Tulfo strongly opposed the proposal to privatize the country’s communications, navigation, and surveillance/air traffic management system (CNS/ATM) through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
He plans to file a Senate resolution to investigate the proposed privatization and explore ways to improve the traffic system while maintaining government control.
In a statement, Tulfo, who chairs the Committee on Public Services, revealed that ComClark Network and Technology Corp., owned by tech tycoon Dennis Uy, submitted an “unsolicited proposal” to take over the operations of the Philippines’ air traffic management system.
The CNS/ATM system provides various computer-aided safety measures in Air Traffic Control (ATC) and enhances safety by reducing controller and pilot workloads as well as minimizing human errors.
“The privatization of CNS/ATM functions poses serious national security risks and exposes us to foreign interference since private companies may be entered into through equity participation by nationalized investors, including large government-backed corporations in China,” Tulfo stated.
Tulfo cited Ret. Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss, former Philippine Air Force chief and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director general who noted that such a proposal would transfer CAAP’s power to monitor and control all flights within the Flight Information Region (FIR) to a private entity that could have private vested interests.
He emphasized that every country has an FIR where they manage information navigation and alert systems, highlighting that this area is “bigger than our maritime zone and territorial land areas combined.”
“This only means that privatization of CNS/ATM is tantamount to giving private companies control over the security of our country’s land and seas,” Tulfo highlighted.
Tulfo also acknowledged that high-profile individuals involved in illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) have used flights to exit the country.
“Privatization may just lead to a system that can be much easier to exploit as a way to avoid the country’s justice system,” he stressed.
Tulfo vowed to exhaust all means to stop any attempt to privatize the Philippines’ air traffic system.
