ATO chief sacked
over US downgrade

PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday sacked Air Transportation Office officer-in-charge Danilo Dimagiba and ordered Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza to temporarily take over in the aftermath of the decision of the US Federal Aviation Administration to downgrade theMONDAY |SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 | PHILIPPINES' rating from Category 1 to Category 2.

Dimagiba was appointed last October. He was in Bacolod for a conference when Arroyo announced his dismissal.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Arroyo gave Mendoza three months to comply with the requirements of the FAA and International Civil Aviation Organization for the MONDAY |SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 | PHILIPPINES to be reverted to Category 1.

"The issues involved here are merely technicalities and documentation and do not concern issues on safety," Bunye said.

The US aviation watchdog in its January 8 report included theMONDAY |SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 | PHILIPPINES in a list of 21 countries that failed to "provide safety oversight of its air carrier operators in accordance with the minimum safety oversight standards established by the ICAO."

Countries that fall under Category 1 are those which comply with ICAO aviation safety standards, while those that fall under Category 2 do not, the FAA said on its website.

A Category 2 rating means the country lacks regulations necessary to support the certification and oversight of air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards.

The country also lacks technical expertise, resources and organization to license air operations, does not have adequately trained and qualified technical personnel and does not provide adequate inspector guidance to ensure enforcement of minimum standards.

Aviation systems of a country placed in Category 2 will be subjected to heightened FAA surveillance and will not be allowed to expand or change its services in the United States.

Despite the downgraded ratings, Bunye said theMONDAY |SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 | PHILIPPINES has a "very high safety record" and that the issues do not involve any carrier or aircraft.

'BLAME AVIATION OFFICIALS'

Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Joker Arroyo said the country's aviation officials should be blamed for the downgrade, and not the Senate.

Enrile said the executive branch is stampeding Congress into passing the Civil Aviation Authority Act which seeks to provide financial autonomy to the ATO, among other things.

Sen. Arroyo said what ATO asked for in the 2007 and 2008 budgets were given in full.

But scrutinizing the proposed ATO budget for 2008, Arroyo said P853 million is allotted for personnel services, P754 million for maintenance, operating and other expenses, and only P21 million for capital outlay or equipment.

"Precisely, the FAA is complaining that we do not have the facilities to maintain international safety standards. And what did ATO ask for - P21 million or $572,000 only," Arroyo said.

"No wonder the FAA is concerned about it," he added.

SENATE ON ITS TOES

Enrile, chair of the committee on public services, said the Senate approved on third reading House Bill 3156, or the proposed Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008, before Congress recessed for Christmas last year.

But Enrile said the bicameral conference committee has yet to be convened because the House has yet to name the members of its panel.

He said Congress will have to wait until Jan. 28 before the bicameral committee can be convened.

Enrile said the ICAO standards which the ATO was said not to have complied with referred to Specific Operating Regulations, Technical Guidance, competence of technical personnel; Licensing and Certification; Continued Surveillance Obligations; and Resolution of Safety Issues.

"What was emphasized was that the ATO was unable to sustain the minimum safety standards of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (commonly known as the Chicago Convention) and the annexes thereto," he said.

CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY

As a signatory to the convention, Enrile said theMONDAY |SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 | PHILIPPINES is required to establish a civil aviation authority that employs technical personnel that are qualified to perform aviation safety oversight functions on air carriers. Moreover, the RP-US Air Transport Agreement requires compliance with the standards prescribed under the Chicago Convention as a condition of foreign air carrier operations in the United States.

The CAA bill would turn the ATO into a distinct agency from the DOTC to enable it to use most of ATO's P3 billion income as operating expense instead of relying on the P1.3 billion budget given by government.