15 February 2017 – The Makati Business Club, together with the Philippine Business Groups and the Joint Foreign Chambers, expressed its support for the Arangkada-commissioned Airport Policy Brief at today’s press conference held at the AIM Conference Center in Makati City. The event was attended by Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon, Jr. and Transportation Undersecretary Roberto Lim who gave brief presentations on their respective department’s infrastructure-related plans.
Ms. Cherrylyn Rodolfo, author of the policy paper, presented the state of the Philippine air transport infrastructure which covers airlines, airports, and air traffic management, and highlighted the key constraints that hinder improvements in the country’s air transport infrastructure. Major challenges include congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), poor airport planning and implementation, and weak and ineffective regulatory and institutional infrastructure.
Several recommendations were presented by the business leaders but three main points prevailed during the discussions. First, there is a need to unbundle the conflicting responsibilities of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) as regulator, operator, and investigator. A proposal to amend the CAAP Law or RA 9497 is presented, which would strengthen CAAP as the agency in charge or safety and regulatory oversight and allow for another agency to oversee direct airport operations such as air traffic control services. The group also calls for the issuance and implementation of a dual-airport system to decongest NAIA airports. Finally, the supporters of the policy paper emphasized the need to modernize airport facilities and equipment.
The Airport Policy Paper is supported by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (ANZCHAM), the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CanCham), the European Chamber of the Philippines (ECCP), the Financial Executives of the Philippines (FINEX), the Federation for Economic Freedom (FEF), the Japanese Chamber of Commerce (JCCIPI), the Korean Chamber of Commerce (KCCP), Makati Business Club (MBC), Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters Inc. (PAMURI), Philippine Chamber of Commerce (PCCI), Philippines Exporters Confederation (PhilExport), the Semiconductor & Electronics Industries (SEIPI), Tourism Congress, and the US-ASEAN Business Council.