CAAP: No truth to air control tower walkout

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) assured the public that civil aviation operations remain normal at all of the country’s airports as he dispelled rumors of a supposed planned “walkout” of air control tower personnel.

Ruben Ciron, director-general of the CAAP, said the reported threat of a “walkout” was nothing but a baseless claim being peddled by a disgruntled employee facing libel and administrative charges.

He said Cesar Lucero is not even an air traffic controller but a low-level security personnel under the abolished Air Transportation Office (ATO).

Lucero, the vice president of the CAAP Employees Union, earlier bared the issuance of a “significant safety concern” rating raised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Philippine civil aviation, and the alleged unreliability of the navigational aids and facilities at the country’s different domestic and international airports.

“It is because of acts inimical to the service that Lucero had been criminally charged with libel by CAAP for spreading false information and consequently suspended for 90 days while his case remains under review. He is also facing administrative charges before the hearing and adjudication board,” Ciron said.

According to Ciron, one of his first acts upon assuming office is to look into the welfare of CAAP’s 3,500 employees. This, he said, is a critical step towards upgrading CAAP’s service quality.

“For the first time, CAAP employees enjoyed receiving their 14th month pay twice, on December 2008 and December 2009,” Ciron said.

This is aside from overtime, night differential pay, medical and other benefits that were immediately paid, Ciron said. These benefits are now part of CAAP’s regular bud­ get and no longer subject to availability of funds, unlike in the ATO, the CAAP’s predecessor, he added.

He also directed the CAAP finance department to process all 2009 financial claims of its employees, including air traffic controllers.

Ciron also denied Lucero’s claim that many Philippine airports have defective navigational aids (navaids).

The CAAP even hired the services of Air New Zealand last year to augment the local capability for flight calibration of navaids and related facilities, he said.

Ciron said he has been working double-time to restore CAAP into Category 1 status. The remaining obstacle, he said, was the hiring of qualified technical personnel, now being fast-tracked by the CAAP, the Department of Budget and Management and Civil Service Commission. – Rainier Allan Ronda