What reports referred to as potential instruments of illegal intrusion by unscrupulous persons, the MCIAA said, are "temporary passes which, by their very nature, are used only for specific dates in limited airport areas and are non-transferable."
The Freeman Cebu earlier reported that Superintendent Elias Abad Jr., chief of the Regional Aviation Security Office, discovered the alleged irregularity and promptly informed airport manager Alfonso Alerre about it.
"The misunderstanding stems from the failure...to differentiate temporary passes (from) manager’s passes that are issued to persons who are engaged regularly in legitimate activities at the airport," the MCIAA said in a statement.
While temporary passes are issued on per-request basis and immediately invalidated after use, manager’s passes, the MCIAA said, are provided on a yearly basis to government offices and persons in the religious, business and media sectors "of good standing in the community."
Both passes, however, do not allow full access to all areas in the airport. Not even MCIAA employees are issued passes allowing them such unlimited access, it added.
No less than Abad "has disclaimed the statements supposedly attributed to him," it said.
The MCIAA gave assurances that it "continues to adhere to international standards of aviation safety and security. Only recently, Philippine Airlines expressed its appreciation of the security measures we have initiated."
It added that the Korean Civil Aeronautics Board also cited the Mactan airport’s living up to strict international standards and that other airlines operating at the airport "have no plans to move out on account of any perceived security threat."