CAAP slams STAR report

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) slammed yesterday an “erroneous news report” in The STAR that the country failed the audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Feb. 18-22. 

In a letter to The STAR, CAAP director William Hotchkiss decried the “irresponsible reporting” in the story that came out on Feb. 23, titled “CAAP fails int’l audit anew.” 

The story, citing unnamed sources, was written by Rainier Allan Ronda.

It reported that the CAAP passed only one of five major concerns that the ICAO wanted the Philippines to address. 

“The truth of the matter, however, is that the validation mission was a resounding success, resulting in a firm commitment from the ICAO audit team to recommend the lifting of the significant safety concerns that had been hounding CAAP under previous administrations,” Hotchkiss wrote. 

The ICAO assessment is expected to come up with the final results of the audit in two or three weeks.

Malacañang has expressed confidence that the country will pass the audit. 

Hotchkiss pointed out that many persons attended an exit briefing presented by the ICAO on Feb. 22 and the story could have been easily verified.

“Sadly and inexplicably, your reporter chose to base his story on the declarations of certain sources who were either not present in the briefing, or were in fact present but, in utter bad faith and with malice aforethought, decided to twist the facts in order to put CAAP in an unflattering light,” Hotchkiss wrote. 

Hotchkiss added that the “blatant falsehood besmirched the memory” of Capt. Francisco Juliano, vice chairman of the compliance committee on the issue, “who literally died with his boots on while marshaling efforts to address the safety concerns of the ICAO.” 

The CAAP chief pointed out that The STAR was the only newspaper that carried “the erroneous news report.”