We need a National Transport Safety Board

We don’t always grieve with uncommon intensity when our leaders die except in a few cases. I was seven years old when Ramon Magsaysay’s plane crashed in Cebu. But I still remember the sadness that enveloped the nation. I still remember that day… March 17, 1957.

The next time I remember the nation feeling really bad about the death of a leader was when Ninoy Aquino was murdered at the tarmac in NAIA. If there was a feeling of surrender to an Almighty Power in the case of Magsaysay, this time it was only anger in the case of Ninoy.

There was sadness too when Cory Aquino finally succumbed to colon cancer but her lingering illness prepared us for the news. Everything stopped on the day of her funeral. It was a sorrowful but grateful nation that accompanied her to her final resting place.

 In the case of the late Jesse Robredo, the nation was caught by surprise not just by his death but by how much he has served this country. Uncharacteristic of a man in his position, Jesse just did his good deeds quietly. When the news flashed about his plane crashing off Masbate, most folks were unaware of how much of our hopes and dreams for better government crashed with him.

Then people started to google and learned more about the man Jesse Robredo. Within hours, people were praying that he did not perish in the accident. But it soon became evident he didn’t survive and that was when the national feeling of loss started to make itself strongly felt.

Because he died in an accident involving a small private aircraft, there are those who wonder if the accident was avoidable. It helps that the pilot owned the aircraft and he wouldn’t have flown a plane that was not airworthy. Then again, we know how Pinoys like to take risks and maybe this was just one risk too many the pilot-owner took. His plane charter company, after all, had a recent fatal crash.

If we had a credible government regulatory agency that checks on the local aviation industry, we would feel at ease. We would know someone checked the airworthiness of that aircraft.

Unfortunately, there is little trust in the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and its ability to assure local aviation safety. That is precisely why we are unable to get that upgrade to Category 1 by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Put another way, we were downgraded to Category 2 because international aviation authorities didn’t think we had an effective regulatory set-up in the country. CAAP has a reputation for having personnel who are neither competent nor honest and record keeping until very recently, utilized index cards in shoe boxes in this digital age.

It is now entirely possible regulatory failure on the part of CAAP, an agency under the DOTC, could be partly to blame for that plane crash. The Masbate crash, a news story reports, had prompted the CAAP to look into the unsafe practices of aviation firms, including flying planes well past their primes. Why only now? Isn’t this something they should have been doing?

That is why the well publicized order of Mar Roxas to CAAP to investigate the cause of the crash isn’t going to give us reassurance we will find the truth and learn from the sad experience. An independent probe must be assured.

There is an inherent conflict of interest for CAAP. It is possible that part, if not most of the reason for the plane crash lies in CAAP’s regulatory failure. No one should expect CAAP to condemn itself if this is so.

It does not help that CAAP was reported to have ruled out the possibility of involving foreign experts or sending some of the plane parts to experts and laboratories abroad. At the very least, we should request assistance from the US because they have more experience investigating air disasters. Being realistic about CAAP’s capabilities, it is false nationalism to think it diminishes the Filipino’s image as a capable professional if we asked for help abroad.

What we need long term is the establishment of a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that is independent of CAAP and DOTC. We need an act of Congress to establish this body. It should have authority over all transportation related accidents on land, sea and air. We also cannot have Marina and LTO investigate accidents that could be a result of their negligence.

I was told by a former head of CAAP that putting up this NTSB is one of the conditions the FAA imposed for a favorable consideration of our category 1 upgrade. I don’t consider this an imposition because it is necessary. Of course this new agency should be allowed to get expert staff, exempted from government rules on pay scales, or its reason for being would be negated.

An administration bill to create the NTSB should be immediately certified as urgent by P-Noy not just to honor Jesse Robredo but to protect the lives of more people who ride commercial and private aircrafts in this country. We do not have a culture of safety and our “puede na” mentality when it comes to proper maintenance often prevails specially when costs are involved.

If there is one thing we absolutely need to do right, it is the regulation of our aviation sector. It scares me when I think of the times I have taken those small planes and most specially those air force helicopters and C47s in the course of my journalistic career. When I was a judge in the Kawal Awards some years ago, we awarded an air force sergeant who used his ingenuity to make those air force planes fly even in the absence of fresh spare parts. Of course air force safety is a different matter to civil air safety but also pertains to safety in our skies.

Daang Matuwid is not just about fighting corruption that results in losses of public funds. Daang Matuwid is also about doing things right. Proper aviation regulation is urgent business that must be attended to.

Mar owes that much to his bosom buddy, Jesse, to see to it this part of his responsibility is done not just right but at once. There should be no compromises on public safety… unless the next victims are the officials who failed to do their jobs right.

Losing a man like Jesse Robredo is a cause for national sadness. I am sure he would rather that we use the tragedy to correct a deficiency in governance. Failure to do so can only claim more lives in the future. Jesse shouldn’t have died in vain.

Jesse’s successor

I know it is probably still inappropriate at this point to speculate on who will be Jesse Robredo’s successor. But a number of names are now being floated … and most are so un-Jesse. So, sentiments aside, we need to start thinking hard and suggest someone worthy to pick up from where he left. 

The quick assignment of the Executive Secretary as OIC is understandable. The business of government must go on without interruption. But it is hoped that the permanent successor would have the credentials and reputation of Jesse.

Off the top of my head, the only name I could think of quickly is that of Robredo’s fellow Bicolano, Gov. Joey Salceda. Gov Joey has shown his ability to run a local government in a businesslike yet people-oriented manner. He has learned well from Jesse’s philosophy of involving the people as part of his governance strategy.

Over his last two terms, Gov Joey has also attracted international attention to his brand of governance, specially in dealing with climate change issues that impact heavily on his disaster prone province. He can also be expected to promote business-friendly LGUs, having been in business himself.

It should help that Gov Joey was P-Noy’s classmate in Ateneo, so he is no stranger to the president. Yet, he is not kabarkada and Gov Joey’s own record as an elected public official gives him some credibility to be both independent and supportive of the President. He is also a Liberal Party member, same as Jesse.

But I have no idea if Gov Joey would trade his independence as an elected Governor to be an appointed cabinet secretary serving at the pleasure of P-Noy. Probably not.

In any case, P-Noy must be absolutely sure the one he appoints to succeed Jesse has a reputation that will make people believe he or she can do justice to Jesse Robredo’s memory. P-Noy owes that much to Jesse Robredo.

Experience

“Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.”

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco