The Senate Committee on Public Services has ruled out the alleged sabotage and cyber attack at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) during the glitch that happened last January.
On Wednesday, Senator Grace Poe, chairman of the Committee, presented the result of their investigation of the incident.
According to Poe, the NAIA shutdown was indeed caused by a "power outage" due to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines' (CAAP) malfunctioning equipment before and during the glitch incident.
"Lahat tayo ay nalito sa paiba-ibang narrative ng CAAP, pero sa huli lumabas din na maraming equipment na ang may problema," she said.
Poe also explained that the loose wire caused the overvoltage of the circuit breaker, damaging the Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance Systems for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM system).
"Second, the malfunctioning of these three equipment was worsened by several underlying issues that all aligned on New Year's Day and ultimately led to a system failure. Kumbaga sa sakit, may underlying medical condition na ang pasyente at nagkaroon na ng maraming komplikasyon kaya nangyari ito," she said.
Apart from this, the Senator pointed out that CAAP lack electric engineers and their personnel has no proper training.
"To illustrate, kumbaga sa ospital ay may kakulangan sa mga espesyalistang doktor. Meron mang mga nurses ay hindi naman sila trained para mag-alaga o magbigay lunas sa pasyenteng may specific na karamdaman o kailangan magpa-opera," Poe said.
With these results, the Senate Committee recommended the urgent replacement and upgrade of equipment.
The Senator also asked her fellow colleagues for the immediate passage of the Philippine Transportation Safety Board and Philippine Airports Authority Act as well as the Air Passengers Bill of Rights.
She likewise requested them to amend the CAAP Charter.
"Related to these, the Committee is also recommending that the DOTr fast-track the feasibility studies on the proposed NAIA privatization, and assist CAAP in immediately complying with the ICAO recommendations," Poe added.
