NATIONAL
Advocates Philippines
House Committee Conducts Inquiry In NAIA Power Outage And Driver's License Card Shortage
Photo credit: Congress PH
The House Committee on Transportation, chaired by Rep. Romeo Acop, conducted a motu proprio inquiry on Thursday to investigate the power shutdown incident that caused the cancellation of flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on May 1, 2023.
During the hearing, Rep. Acop expressed his concern over the incident, noting that a similar outage occurred on New Year's Day, which should have served as a warning.
Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary Roberto Lim apologized to the House members, passengers, and stakeholders for the inconvenience caused by the power shutdown. Meanwhile, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) Acting General Manager Bryan Co narrated the timeline of events on Labor Day, which resulted in the cancellation of 24 round trip domestic flights of Cebu Pacific, affecting 9,391 passengers.
AGM Co shared that on May 3, the MIAA met with Meralco, with a subsidiary of the latter conducting physical inspection of electrical systems and assessing nearby substations and generator systems. As part of its long-term plans, the MIAA will design a roadmap that provides protective redundancies, ensuring continuity, resilience, and stability of airport operations.
Aside from the power outage incident, the shortage of plastic ID cards for driver's licenses (DLs) was also discussed during the hearing. Rep. Acop explained that lawmakers are seeking remedial measures to address any policy gaps in the procurement process of the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
LTO Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo Tugade reported that the agency is re-allocating its available supply of DL cards to address the shortage. He added that the LTO is authorizing the use of official receipt (OR) as a temporary license, which could be in digital format. The LTO is also cascading the information to all LTO law enforcement offices and LTO-deputized agents to ensure that the OR is recognized as a DL.
Asec. Tugade further stated that DLs that expired in April 2023 would be extended until October 31, 2023. He also assured Congress that the LTO would increase the number of buffer DL cards in succeeding years to avoid similar shortages in the future.
During the hearing, Rep. Acop expressed his concern over the incident, noting that a similar outage occurred on New Year's Day, which should have served as a warning.
Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary Roberto Lim apologized to the House members, passengers, and stakeholders for the inconvenience caused by the power shutdown. Meanwhile, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) Acting General Manager Bryan Co narrated the timeline of events on Labor Day, which resulted in the cancellation of 24 round trip domestic flights of Cebu Pacific, affecting 9,391 passengers.
AGM Co shared that on May 3, the MIAA met with Meralco, with a subsidiary of the latter conducting physical inspection of electrical systems and assessing nearby substations and generator systems. As part of its long-term plans, the MIAA will design a roadmap that provides protective redundancies, ensuring continuity, resilience, and stability of airport operations.
Aside from the power outage incident, the shortage of plastic ID cards for driver's licenses (DLs) was also discussed during the hearing. Rep. Acop explained that lawmakers are seeking remedial measures to address any policy gaps in the procurement process of the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
LTO Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo Tugade reported that the agency is re-allocating its available supply of DL cards to address the shortage. He added that the LTO is authorizing the use of official receipt (OR) as a temporary license, which could be in digital format. The LTO is also cascading the information to all LTO law enforcement offices and LTO-deputized agents to ensure that the OR is recognized as a DL.
Asec. Tugade further stated that DLs that expired in April 2023 would be extended until October 31, 2023. He also assured Congress that the LTO would increase the number of buffer DL cards in succeeding years to avoid similar shortages in the future.
May 12, 2023
